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A f^ENEOA IKDIAK IK COSTUME. 



THE IROQUOIS; 



(Llje |iric|i]t ^tite of |iiiri;ni Cljiiractn- 



BY 



MINNIE MYRTLE. 



NEW YORK: 
D..APPLETON AND COMPANY, 

346 AND 34S BROADWAY. 

1855. 






ExTKRKD according to Act of Congress, in tlie year 1855, by 

D. APPLETON & COMPANY, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York- 



^Sf 



i 



Dtiirntnrt} ttWn, 



TO 



COL. THOMAS McKEXNET, AND PHILLIP E. THOMAS. 



"Without their knowledge, I presume to dedicate 
my first volume of Indian History to those whose 
names I have heard most frequently, as friends of 
the red man. The title of the first indicates that 
he has been on the war-path, while the other belongs 
to the Society whose members are so eminently the 
missionaries of peace. The one v/as for many years 
conspicuous as a public man, and the other has been 
seen only in the most private walks, but they have 
been ever intimately associated in efforts for pro- 
moting the best interests of Indians of every name 
and race. The '^ good works'' of the one, in his 
official capacity and as an author, are well known, 
while those of the other have been necessarily silent 
and unseen, except by his friends, and those who 



DEDICATORY LETTER. 



were the recipients of the blessings he has so munifi- 
cently scattered ; but having wandered through the 
scenes of their labors, I have found them to have been 
fellow-laborers, the designs of each being cordially 
a23proved and forwarded by the other, and their 
sympathies always the same. 

In behalf of the Indian, to whom each name is 
dear as father, protector and friend, and as a testi- 
mony of her own reverence and grateful affection, 
this slight tribute is offered by the 

AUTHOE. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



PAGE. 

Introduction, . . . . . , , , .11 

CHAPTER L 

National Traits op Charactek, . . . . .19 

Christian Atrocities, ..... 21 

Indian Homes, . . . . . . .23 

Civilized Barbarism, ..... 25 

King Philip, . . . . . . .21 

Hospitality, ...... 29 

~^>iTho Christian and Indian contrasted, . . . .31 

CHAPTER II. 

National Government; or, Long House of the Iroqitois League, 82 

Origin of the League, . . . . . .38 

Design of the League, ..... 85 

Indian Traits, . . . . . . .87 

Councils, ....... 89 

Wampum and Calumet, . . . . .41 

Indian "Women, ...... 43 

CHAPTER IIL 

The Religion of the Iroquois, . . . . .44 

Anecdote, ....... 45 

Employment in Heaven, . . . . .47 

Maplo Festival, ...... 49 

Thanks to tho Great Spirit, . , . . .51 



CONTENTS. 



Address to Heno, 

Succotash, 

Thanksgiving Address, 

Guessing of Dreams, 

Indian Courtesy, 
^The Council Fire, 
^The Iroquois not Savages. 



PAGE 

53 
. 55 

57 
. 59 

61 
. 63 

65 



CHAPTER IV. 

Customs and Individual tbaits op Chabacteb, 
Indian Burials, 
Keligious Duties, 
Jndiau Vengeance, . 
\ Good for Evil, .... 
Cannasatego, 

Hans Hanson, .... 
^ Indian Honesty, 
-Indian Beauty, .... 



\ 



CHAPTER V. 



Love, Music, and Poetry, . 


. 


. 88 


^ Matrimonial Negotiations, 




85 


Social Affections, 


. , 


: 87 


Legend of Anipatd Sapa, 




89 


Poetic Sentiment of the Indians, . 


. 


. 91 


--A Love Legend, . . . . 




93 


Indian Nobleness, 


, , 


. 95 


Instances of Civilization, 




97 


Characteristic Songs, 


. , 


. 99 


Transportation of Children, . 




101 


Honor to the Noble Dead, 


- 


. 103 


CHAPTER VL 






Legendaey Litekatuke, 


. 


. 105 


Indian Legend, . . . . 


, 


107 


Medicinal Feast, 


. 


. 109 


A Hunting Legend, . . . . 


. 


115 


Adventures of the Hunter Ho-cha-gah, 


. 


. 116 


A Pigmy Legend, . . . . 


, 


121 


Legend of the Jo-go-o, or Pigmies destroying the 


Monster Buffaloes, 


. 121 


A War Legend, . . . . 




123 


"War Dance, .... 




. 125 


The Virgin of War, . . . . 


. 


126 


Indian Fireside, 


. 


. 129 


Mythological Legends, 


. 


131 


The Legend of He-no, the Thunderer, 


. 


. 181 



CONTENTS. 



Ga-oh, 

The Seven Stars, 
The Three Sisters, 
The Spirit of Corn, 



A Captivk's Life among Ij 
White Woman," 
Treatment of Prisoners, 
Eespect towards "Women, 
Story of Mary Jewison, 
The Deserted Baby, 
Mission Burial Ground, 



PAGS 

183 
. 133 

134 
. 135 



CHAPTER VII. 
dians. Illustrated by the Life of "The 



CHAPTER VIIL 



Eloquence among the Iroquois— Eed Jacket, or Sa-go-y 
Eed Jacket, .... 

Plea of the Women, .... 
Indian Superstitions, .... 
Eloquence of Eed Jacket, 

The Missionaries, .... 
Witchcraft, ..... 



136 
13T 
139 
141 
153 
155 



15S 
159 
161 
163 
167 
ITl 
173 



CHAPTER IX. 

Sarcasm and Sagacity — Eed Jacket, ok Sa-go-ye-wat-ha, . . 174 

Interview with Eed Jacket, . . . . .175 

Vanity of Eed Jacket, . . . . . .185 

Last hours of Eed Jacket, ..... 197 

Deatli of Eed Jacket, . . . . . .199 

Eed Jacket's Grave, . . . . .201 

CHAPTER X. 

Dignity of Character among the Iroquois, Illustrated by the life 

of Farmer's Brother and Young-King, . . . 202 

Farmer's Brother, . . . . . .203 

Generosity to Captives, ..... 205 

Ignorance of !^^oney, ...... 209 

Indian Fund, ...... 211 

American Barbarism, . . . . . .215 

Young-King, ....... 217 

Death of Young- King, . . . . . .219 

CHAPTER XL 

-^ Indian Magnanimity Illustrated by the life of cornplanteb, . 220 

Cornplanter, . . . . . . .221 

Cornplanter's Generosity, ..... 223 



10 



CONTENTS. 



Code of Morality, ...... 

Cornplanter's Appeal, ..... 

Cornplanter's Son, ...... 

CHAPTER XII. 

Refinement and Sensibility in Indian Character, Illustrated in tue 
Life of Logan, ...... 

Logan, ....... 

Logan's Wrongs, ...... 

Speech of Logan, ...".. 



225 



241 
243 



CHAPTER XIIL 

The Darkest Page of Indian History, 
Report upon the Indians, 

Appeal of the Indians, .... 
Society of Friends, .... 
Big Kettle, ..... 

Speech of Big Kettle, 
Speech of Gayashuta, addressed to the Society of Friends, 
Speech of Black Hawk, 

Manners and Customs, .... 
Red Jacket's Step-daughter, . 



. 245 

247 
. 249 

251 
. 252 

253 
. 25T 

259 
. 201 



CHAPTER XIV. 



The Educated Indian, 
Indian Orations, 
Injustice to the Indians, 
Indian Civilization, 
Indian Oration, 
Closing Remarks, 



266 
267 
278 
275 
279 



CHAPTER XV. 

The Future of the North American Indian,. 

Injustice to the Indians, 

Story of James Macdonald, 

Stigma attached to the Indians, 

Inconsistency, .... 

Kusick, .... 

Sabbath Morning among the Chippewas, 
_^Ni Doom of the Indian, 

APPENDIX, .... 



284 
285 
287 
289 
291 
293 
295 
297 

298 



INTRODUCTION. 

" A book about Indians, — who cares any thing about 
them ? " 

This will probably be the exclamation of many who 
glance at my title-page, for to those who know nothing con- 
cerning them, a whole book about Indians will seem a very 
prosy affair. To these I can answer nothing, for they will 
not proceed as far as my preface to see what reason I 
can render for this seeming folly. But to those who are 
willing to listen, I will say, that the Indians are a very 
interesting people, whether I have made an interesting 
book about them or not. 

The Antiquarian, the Historian, and the Scholar, have 
been a long time studying Indian character, and have 
given us plenty of information concerning Indians, but it 
is all in ponderous tomes for State and College libraries, 
and quite inaccessible to the multitudes. Those who only 
take up such books as may be held in the hand, sitting by 
the fire, still remain very ignorant of the inhabitants who 
peopled the forests, before the Saxon set his foot upon our 
shore. 

There is also a great deal of prejudice, the consequence 



12 INTRODUCTION. 

of this ignorance, and the consequence of the representa- 
tions of our forefathers, who were brought into contact 
with the Indians, under circumstances that made it im- 
possible to judge impartially and correctly. 

This ignorance and prejudice I have attempted to dis- 
pel. I thought at first of only giving a series of Indian 
Biographies, but without some knowledge of the Govern- 
ment and Religion of the Iriquois, the lives of their great 
men could not be understood or appreciated. The histo- 
ries which are in our schools, and from Avhich our first im- 
pressions are obtained, are still very deficient in what 
they relate of Indian history, and most of them are still 
filling the minds of children and youth with very false 
ideas. 

I knew little of what I was undertaking when I began, 
or I might have shrunk from the task. In my ignorance 
I thought a very small book would cover all the ground I 
had marked out, but I soon found it would not cover half 
of it, and I am obliged to leave the lives of Brandt the 
great Mohawk Chief, of Sir William Johnson and several 
other interesting chiefs and personages connected with 
Indian history, for another volume. If the success of 
these should be sufficiently encouraging, they may be fol- 
lowed by others, concerning Southern Indians, in volumes 
to correspond in design and character. 

Though a difficult task, I have found it a very pleas- 
ing one. The mists of prejudice and ignorance have been 
cleared from my own mind by the light of truth, and I have 
been happy indeed, when, either in imagination or in 
reality, I have been seated by Indian firesides. I have 



INTRODUCTION. 13 

read every thing I could hear of connected with ray sub- 
jects, but aside from books have enjoyed peculiar facilities 
for prosecuting my labors. A teacher whom I loved in 
childhood, became a missionary among the Senecas in 
Western New York. In compliance with her wishes we 
took a little Indian girl into our family, who was my pupil 
and companion two years, and whom we all learned to 
love. Her father was the step-son of Red Jacket, the 
most renowned chief of the Iriquois, and through our 
correspondence with the missionaries, we continued, and 
deepened our interest in her people. It was long a favor- 
ite idea with me to write a book concerning them, and 
when I had decided to do so, I went to Cattaraugus and 
spent several months in order to become better acquainted 
with the Indians myself, and to be in daily communion 
with those who had been among them more than twenty 
3'ears, and also to gain access to books and documents to 
be found nowhere else. 

On glancing at the table of contents the book may 
seem fragment^y, but instead of devoting a whole long 
chapter to the dry details of " manners and customs," I 
have woven these usually uninteresting materials into the 
Biographies, so that no one part can be at all understood 
or appreciated without reading the whole. 

My title will not be so attractive to American ears as 
if it related to any other unknown people. A tour in 
Arabia, or Africa, or Kamschatka, with far less important 
and interesting material, would secure a greater number 
of readers, as we are always more curious about things 
afar off. 



14 INTRODUCTION. 

I might have covered as many pages with " Indian 
atrocities," but these have been detailed in other histories 
till they are familiar to every ear, and I had neither room 
nor inclination for even a glance at war and its dark 
records. 

I have not written the wliole truth^ yet what I have 
written is truth, in the minutest details. 

Mr. Clarke in the " Onondaga," has in two large 
volumes given, a mass of useful information concerning mis- 
sions, and Indian life and character ; and in the " History 
of Pontiac," by Parkman, wo have a glowing picture of 
forest life, and life-breathing portraits of forest men. 

Charlevoix, La Hontan, Colden, Smith, Macaulay, 
Morse, and Bancroft, are well known historians, and their 
books are the fountains to which all resort for historical 
knowledge. 

Mr. William L. Stone has given us several Indian 
Biographies, which are most interesting and truthful, pre- 
senting Indian rights and wrongs in a new light, and doing 
justice to Indian character. To these I am indebted for 
some of the most valuable materials of my book. 

Mr. Schoolcraft has given us a world of wondrous 
things in his numerous quartos and folios, which will 
prove a treasure-house in all future time for philologists, 
ethnologists, and antiquarians of all names ; and Mr. 
Lewis H. Morgan has written one of the most curious 
books in his " League of the Iriquois," in which we have 
the Government, Religion, and Customs of the Six Na- 
tions portrayed truly, and yet so brightly, that one is 
almost tempted to say, " What need is there of a better 



INTRODUCTION. 15 

way ? " There are few, however learned, who would not 
be surprised on readmg his account of Indian '• Church 
and State." Knowing his devotion to truth and accuracy, 
and his opportunities for, obtaining correct knowledge of 
what he wrote, I have, in all I have taken from books 
concerning the Iriquois Confederacy, relied upon him. To 
him I am also indebted for criticisms and suggestions 
which will save the critics much trouble, though they will 
probably have plenty to do as it is. 

The works of Col. Thomas L. McKenney, the well- 
known administrator of Indian affairs, contain the most life- 
like and glowing pictures of Indian character, and the most 
truthful appreciation of Indian life, for he knew our forest 
forefathers longer, and saw them under a greater variety 
of circumstances, than it was possible for another to do ; 
and he rightly understood both the Indian and the white 
man, and the means of adapting them to each other. 

Alas, that his noble plans for civilizing and Chris- 
tianizing the red races of America should have been frus- 
trated, when there was not only the hope, but the most 
encouraging prospect, that the work might be accom- 
plished. His was no Utopian scheme, but one which suc- 
cessful operation had proved practicable. But it was not 
so to be. He could not save them ; but through his own 
personal efforts, and influence as head of department, we 
have the gallery of Indian portraits, invaluable as speci- 
mens of art, and invaluable as the only correct representa- 
tives of a people so soon to have passed away. I am not 
only indebted to the books of Mr. McKenney, but to him, 



16 INTRODUCTION. 

for every facility which it has been in his power to afford 
for information, and promoting the success of my plan. 

In the poem of Alfred B, Street, " Frontenac," we 
have the government, religion, and festivals of the Long 
House in one beautiful picture. As a poem, it is one of 
the most artistic in our language ; but its Indian hue has 
prevented its being appreciated, and it concerns a people 
so little known and so entirely misunderstood in prose, 
that its descriptions are like a panorama without light. I 
have quoted from it several songs, to embellish my sombre 
pages. 

Tecumseh, by Colton, has been longer published, and 
is better known ; and the poems of Hosmer are familiar 
to the readers of Magazines, and do not need me to com- 
mend them. 

I have not wished to encumber my book with notes 
and authorities^ and therefore express my obligations, by 
naming the principal sources of my information from 
books, in this way, and add that I have gleaned " here 
a little and there a little," wherever I could find any 
thing to suit my purpose. 

Mr. Wright, in whose family I remained whilst seek- 
ing new materials, understands the Seneca language, and 
also many others, and gave me freely the results of his long 
and intimate experience of Indian life ; whilst his wife, 
who also speaks the language with fluency, was enabled, 
by the observation which is woman's peculiar province, 
and as a highly cultivated intellectual woman, to give me 
the aid which no man, however learned he might be, could 
render. 



INTRODUCTION. 17 

There are also many educated Indians on my list of 
friends and helpers. Dr. Peter Wilson is well known as 
a highly gifted and educated man. Mr. N. T. Strong 
and M. B. Pierce are intelligent and accomplished gen- 
tlemen. To Mr. N. W. and Ely S. Parker I am much 
indebted, as their time and knowledge have been ever 
cordially at my service. The one is engaged in transla- 
ting the Bible into the Seneca language, having been edu- 
cated at the Normal School, Albany ; and the other is 
one of the most honored and valuable servants in the em- 
ployment of the State, as Engineer. Their sister is a 
highly intelligent and cultivated young lady, as one often 
meets in any society. These that I have mentioned are 
young, and pertain to the new order of things ; but there 
are aged men and aged women still living, who give us 
some idea of the Indian as he was. I have been in their 
houses, and become acquainted with their hearts, and not 
among any people have I seen firesides where love and 
friendship wore a brighter smile, or hearts throbbed with 
more genuine Christian sympathy. 

I experienced to the full their cordial hospitality, 
and bring away the mark of respect which they only be- 
stow u])on favored ones. The manner in which names are 
bestowed is one of their peculiar customs, and is quite an 
imposing ceremony. The name of every child is pub- 
licly confirmed in Council, in order to be a legal name ; 
and when he grows to man^s estate., another is given him, 
which is confirmed in the same public way. At the 
present time, when they bestow a name upon a stranger, 



18 INTRODUCTION. 

it is usually done at the New Year's Council, whether the 
person is present or absent. 

Mine was conferred at a private social gathering, a 
speech being made on the occasion by Sha-dye-no-wah 
(John Hudson), one of their most distinguished men, who 
adopted me into the Bear tribe as his niece. This token 
of regard was afterwards confirmed by a Council of the 
Nation, and this name I shall be ever proud to subscribe. 
It signifies " one who has a new style," or " tells new 
things." 

Gui-EE-WA-ZAY. 




INDIAN WOMAN IN COSTUME. 



THE IllOQUOIS. 



CHAPTER L 

NATIONAL TRAITS OF CHARACTER, 

In all the early histories of the American colonies — in 
the stories of Indian life and delineations of Indian cha- 
racter — we have these children of the wilderness repre- 
sented as savage and barbarous, with scarcely a redeeming 
trait of character. And in the minds of a large portion 
of the community the sentiment still prevails, that they 
were bloodthirsty, revengeful, and merciless — ^justly a 
terror to both friends and foes. Children are impressed 
with the idea that an Indian is scarcely human, and as 
much to be feared as the most ferocious animal of the 
forest. 

Novelists have now and then clothed a few with a 
garb which excites our admiration ; but seldom has one 
been invested with qualities which we could love, unless 
it were also said that through some captive, taken in dis- 
tant wars, he inherited a whiter skin and a paler blood. 

But I am inclined to think that Indians are not alone 
in being savage — not alone barbarous, and heartless, and 
merciless. 



20 i'he: moQUOis. 

It is said tney were exterminating each other by ag- 
gressive and devastating wars before the white people 
came among them. But wars— certainly, aggressive and 
exterminating wars — are not proofs of barbarity. The 
bravest warrior was the most honored ; and this has been 
ever true of Christian nations : and those who call them- 
selves Christian, have not ceased yet to look upon him 
who could plan most successfully the wholesale slaughter 
of human beings, as the most deserving his king's and his 
country's laurels. How long since the poean died away 
in praise of the Duke of "Wellington ? What have been 
the wars in which all Europe has been engaged since there 
have been any records of her history ? For what are 
civilized and Christian nations now drenching their fields 
with blood ? 

It is said the Indian was cruel to the captive, and in- 
flicted unspeakable tortures upon his enemy taken in battle. 
But, from what we know of them, it is not to be inferred 
that Indian chiefs were ever guilty of filling dungeons 
with innocent victims, or slaughtering hundreds and thou- 
sands of their own people, whose only sin was a quiet dis- 
sent from some relio-ious doo;ma. Towards their enemies 
they were often relentless, and they had good reason to 
look upon white men as their enemies. They slew them 
in battle, plotted against them secretly, and in a few in- 
stances — few comparatively — subjected individuals to tor- 
ture, burnt them at the stake, and, perhaps, flayed them 
alive. But who knows any thing of the precepts and prac- 
tice of Roman Catholic Christendom, and quotes these 
things as proofs of unmitigated barbarity ? At the very 
time that Indians were using the tomahawk and scalping- 
knife to avenge their wrongs, peaceful citizens in every 
country in Europe, where the Pope was the man of au- 
thority, were incarcerated for no crime whatever, and 



CHRISTIAN ATROCITIES. 21 

such refinements of torture invented and practised as it 
never entered in the heart of the fiercest Indian warrior 
that roamed the wilderness, to inflict upon man or beast. 
We know very little of the secrets of the Inquisition, and 
this little chills our blood with horror ; 3-et these things 
were done in the name of Christ, the Saviour of the world 
— the Prince of Peace; and not savage, but civilized, 
CJiristian men looked on, not coldly, but rejoicingly, 
while women and children writhed in flames and weltered 
in blood ! 

Were the atrocities, committed in the Vale of Wyo- 
ming and Cherry Valley uuprecedented among the Wal- 
densian fastnesses and the mountains of Auvergne ? Who 
has read Fox's Book of Martyrs and found any thing to 
parallel it in all the records of Indian warfare ? The 
slaughter of St. Bartholomew's-day, the destruction of 
the Jews in Spain, and the Scotch Covenanters, were in 
obedience to the mandates of Christian princes, aye, and 
some of them devised by Christian women, who professed 
to be serving God, and to make the Bi'jle the man of 
their counsel. 

It is said also the Indian was treacherous, and in com- 
pliance with the conditions of no treaty was ever to be 
trusted. But our Puritan fathers cannot be wholly ex- 
onerated from the charge of faithlessness ; and who does 
not blush to talk of Indian traitors when he remembers 
the Spanish invasion and the fall of the princely and 
magnanimous Montezuma ? 

" Indians believed in witches and burned them too ! " 
Did not the sainted Baxter, with the Bible in his hand, 
pronounce'it right ? and was not the Indian permitted to 
be present, when a quiet, unoffending woman was cast 
into the fire by the decree of a Puritan council ? 

To come down to more decidedly Christian times, we 



22 THE IROQUOIS. 

are yet called upon to shudder at the revelations of 
Howard and Miss Dix. It is not so very long since, in 
Protestant England, hanging was the punishment of a 
petty theft, and long and hopeless imprisonment, of a 
slight misdemeanor. I think it is within the memory of 
those who are not the oldest inhabitants, when men were 
bet up to be stoned and spit upon by those who claimed 
the exclusive right to be called humane and merciful. 

Again, it is said, the Indian mode of warfare is, with- 
out exception, the most inhuman and revolting. But I do 
not know that those who die by the barbed and poisoned 
arrow, linger in more unendurable torments, than those 
who are mangled by powder and balls. The tomaliawk 
makes quick work of dying, and the custom of scalping 
among Christian murderers would save thousands from 
groaning days, and perhaps weeks, among heaps that cover 
victorious fields and fill hospitals with the wounded and the 
dying ! But scalping was not an invention exclusively 
Indian. " It claims," says Prescott, " high authority, or, at 
least, antiquity." The Father of history, Herodotus, gives 
an account of it among the Scythians, showing that they 
performed the operation, and wore the scalps of their ene- 
mies taken in battle, as trophies, in the same manner as 
our North American Indians. Traces of the same custom 
are also found in the laws of the Visigoths, among the 
Franks, and even the Anglo-Saxons.'' The Southern In- 
dians did not scalp, but they had a system of slavery, no 
trace of which is to be found among the customs, laws, 
or legends of the Iriquois. 

Again : " They carried away women and children cap- 
tive, and in their long journeys through the wilderness, 
they were subjected to heart-rending trials." 

The wars of Christian men throw hundreds and thou- 



INDIAN HOMES. 23 

sands of women and children helpless upon the cold world, 
to toil, to beg, to starve ! 

This is not so bright a picture as is usually given of 
people who have written laws and stores of learning ; but 
I cannot see that in any place the coloring is too dark. 
There is no danger of painting Indians, so that they will 
become attractive to civilized people ; and there is no need 
of painting them more hideously than they paint them- 
selves. 

There is a bright and pleasing side to Indian character ; 
and thinking that there has been enough written of their 
wars and their cruelties, of the hunter's and the fisherman's 
life, I have sat down by their firesides, and listened to 
their legends, and tried to become acquainted with their 
domestic habits, and to understand their finer feelings, and 
the truly noble traits of their character. 

It is so long now since they were the lords of our soil, 
and formidable as our enemies, — they are so utterly wasted 
away and helpless that we can aiFord to listen to the truth, 
and to believe that even our enemies had virtues. Man 
was created in the image of God, and it cannot be that 
any thing human is utterly vile and contemptible. To 
remain iu ignorance and censure without knowledge is 
easier than to study and toil for the truth, but with the 
present facilities for digging. Christian people cannot be 
excused in remaining content with dross. 

Those who have always thought of Indians as roaming 
about in the forests, hunting and fishing or at war, will 
laugh, perhaps, at the idea of Indian homes and domestic 
happiness ; yet there is no people of which we have any 
knowledge, among whom, in their primitive state, family 
ties and relationships were more distinctly defined or 
more religiously respected. 

The treatment which they received from the white 



24 THE IROQUOIS. 

people, whom they always considered as intruders, aroused 
and kept in exercise all their ferocious passions, so that 
none except those who mingled with them as missionaries 
or as captives, saw them in their true character — as they 
were to each other. 

Almost any portrait which we have of Indians, repre- 
sents them with tomahawk and scalping knife in hand, as 
if they possessed no other but a barbarous nature. Chris- 
tian nations might >vith equal justice be always repre- 
sented with cannon and balls and swords and pistols, as 
the emblems of their employments and their prevailing 
tastes. 

The details of wars form far too great a portion of 
every history of civilized and barbarous nations ; to con- 
quer and to slay has been too long the glory of Christian 
people ; he who has been most successful in subjugating 
and oppressing, in mowing down human beings, has too 
long worn the laurel crown, — been too long an object for 
the admiration of men and the love of woman. 

We are weary of the pomp and circumstance of war — 
of princely banquets and gay cavalcades. The time and 
space we bestow upon Kings and Courts, and the ho- 
mage we pay to empty titles, are unworthy our professed 
Republican spirit and preferences. Let us turn aside 
from the war path and sit doirt n by the hearth stone of 
peace. 

In the pictures which I shall give I shall confine myself 
principally to the Iriquois or Six Nations, a people who no 
more deserve the term savage, than we do that of heathen, 
because we have still lingering among us heathen super- 
stitions, and many opinions and practices which deserve 
no better name ! 

The cannibals of some of the West India Islands, and 
the islands of the Pacific, may with justice be termed sav- 



CIVILIZED BARBARISM. 25 

age, but a people like the Iriquois who had a government, 
established offices, a system of religion eminently pure 
and spiritual, a code of honor and laws of hospitality ex- 
celling those of all other nations, should be considered 
something better than savage, or utterly barbarous. 

The terrible tortures they inflicted upon their enemies 
have made their name a terror, and yet there were not so 
many burnt and hung and starved by them as perish 
among Christian nations by these means. The miseries 
they inflicted were light in comparison with those they 
sufi"ered, and when individuals from them have come 
among us to expose the barbarity of savage white men, the 
deeds they relate equal any thing we know of Indian cruelty. 
The picture an Indian will give of civilized barbarism, 
leaves the revolting customs of the wilderness quite in the 
background. We experienced their revenge when we had 
put their souls and bodies on the rack, and with our 
fire-water had maddened their brains. There was a pure 
and beautiful spirituality in their faith, and their conduct 
was as much influenced by it as are any people, Christian 
or pagan. 

Is there any thing more barbaric in the annals of 
Indian warfare than the narrative of the destruction of 
the Pequod Indians ? In one place we read of the sur- 
prise of an Indian fort by night, when the inmates were 
slumbering unconscious of danger. When they awoke 
they were wrapped in flames, and when they attempted to 
flee, were shot down like wild beasts. From village to 
village, and wigwam to wigwam, the murderers proceeded, 
" being resolved," as our historian piously remarks, '• by 
God's assistance, to make a final destruction of them," 
till finally a small but gallant band took refuge in a swamp 
" Burning with indignation and made sullen by despair ; 
with hearts bursting with grief at the destruction of their 
2 



26 THE IROQUOIS. 

nation, and spirits galled and sore at the fancied ignominy 
of their defeat, they refused to ask their lives at the hand 
of an insulting foe, and preferred death to submission. 
As the night drew on they were surrounded in their dis- 
mal retreat, and volleys of musketry poured into their 
midst, till nearly all were killed or buried in the mire." 
In the darkness of a thick fog which preceded the dawn ^ 
of day, a few broke through the ranks of the besiegers and 
escaped to the woods. 

Again, the same historian tells us that the few who 
remained " stood like sullen dogs to be killed rather than 
implore mercy ; and the soldiers, on entering the swamps, 
found many sitting together in groups, when they ap- 
proached ; and resting their guns on the boughs of trees 
within a few yards of them, literally filled their bodies 
with bullets." * But they were Indians, and it was pro- 
nounced a pious work. " When the Gauls invaded Italy, 
and the Roman senators, in their purple robes and chairs 
of state, sat unmoved in the presence of barbarian con- 
querors, disdaining to flee and equally disdaining to sup- 
plicate mercy, it is applauded as noble — as dying like 
statesmen and philosophers. But when the IndiaiL with 
far more to lose, and infinitely greater provocation, sits 
upon the green mound, beneath the canopy of heaven, and 
refuses to ask mercy of civilized fiends, he is stigmatized 
as dogged, spiritless, and sullen." " What a difi"erent 
name has greatness, clothed in the garb of Christian princes 
and sitting beneath spacious domes, gorgeous with man's 
devices ; and greatness, in the simple garb of nature, des- 
titute, and alone in the wilderness ! " 

There is nothing in the character of Alexander of 
Macedon — who *• conquered the world, and wept that he 

* Irving. 



KING PHILIF. 27 

had no more to conquer " — to compare with the noble 
qualities of King Philip, of Mount Hope; and among 
his warriors is a long list of brave men unrivalled in deeds 
of heroism, by any in ancient or modern story. But in 
what country, and by whom were they hunted and tortured 
and slain ? Who was it that met together to rejoice and 
give thanks at every species of cruelty inflicted upon those 
who were fighting for their wives and their children, their 
altars and their God ? When it is recorded that " men, 
women, and children, indiscriminately, were hewn down 
and lay in heaps upon the snow," it is spoken of as doing 
God service, because they were nominally heathen. '• Be- 
fore the fight was finished, the wigwams were set on fire, 
and into these, hundreds of innocent women and children 
had crowded themselves and perished in the general con- 
flagration," and for this, thanksgivings are sent up to 
heaven. The head of Philip is strung bleeding upon a 
pole, and exposed in the public streets ; but it is not done 
by savage warriors, and the crowd that huzzas at the re- 
volting spectacle assemble on the Sabbath in a Puritan 
church, to listen to the gospel that proclaims peace and 
love to all men. His body is literally cut in slices to be 
distributed among the conquerors, and a Christian city 
rings with acclamations. 

In speaking of this bloody contest one who is most 
eminent among the " Fathers " says, " Nor could they 
cease praying unto the Lord against Philip till they had 
prayed the bullet through his heart." " Two and twenty 
Indian Captains were slain and brought down to hell in 
one day." " A bullet took him in the head, and sent his 
cursed soul in a moment amongst the devils and blas- 
phemers in hell forever." 

Massasoit, the father of Philip, was the true friend to 
the English, and when he was about to die, took his two 



28 THE IROQUOIS. 

sons Alexander and Philip, and fondly commended them 
to the kindness of the new settlers, praying that the same 
peace and good will might be between them, that had ex- 
isted between him and his white friends. Upon mere 
suspicion, only a little while afterwards, the elder, who 
succeeded his father as ruler among his people, was hunted 
in his forest home, and dragged before a court, the nature 
and object of which he could not understand ; but the in- 
dignity which was offered him and the treachery of those 
who thus insulted him, so chafed his proud spirit, that a 
fever was the consequence, of which he died. And this is 
not all. The son and wife of Philip were sold into 
slavery, as were also many others of the Indians taken 
captive during the colonial wars. " Yes," says a dis- 
tinguished orator,* " they were sold into slavery, — 
West Indian slavery ! an Indian princess and her child 
sold from the cool breezes of Mount Hope, from the wild 
freedom of a New England forest, to gasp under the lash, 
beneath the blazing sun of the tropics ! ' Bitter as death,' 
aye, bitter as hell ! Is there any thing, I do not say in 
the range of humanity, — is there any thing animated, that 
would not struggle against this ? " 

Nor is this indeed all. A kinswoman of theirs, a 
princess in her own right, "Wet-a-more of Pocasset, was 
pursued and harassed till she fell exhausted in the wilder- 
ness, and died of cold and starvation. There she was 
found by men professing to be shocked at Indian bar- 
barity, her head severed from her body, and carried bleed- 
ing upon a pole to be exposed in the public highways of a 
country, ruled by men who have been honored as saints 
and martyrs. " Let me die among my kindred." " Bury 
me with my fathers," is the prayer of every Indian heart; 
and the most delicate and reverential kindness in their 
* Everett. 



HOSPITALITY. 29 

treatment of the bodies of the dead, was considered a reli- 
gious dutj. There was nothing in all their customs that 
indicated a barbarism so gross and revolting as these acts 
which are recorded by New England historians without a 
censure, while the lamentations which the Indian utters in 
his grief at seeing his kindred dishonored and his religion 
reviled, are stigmatized as savage and fiendish. 

If all, or even a few who ministered among them in 
holy things, had been like Eliot, who is called " the apos- 
tle to the Indians," and deserves to be ranked with the 
apostles of old ; or Kirkland, who is endeared to the me- 
mory of every Iriquois who heard his name, it could not 
have become a proverb or a truth that civilization and 
Christianit}^ wasted them away. 

Not by one, but many, they are unscrupulously called 
' dogs, wolves, bloodhounds, demons, devils incarnate, hell- 
hounds, fiends, monsters, beasts," — always considering 
them inferior beings, and scarcely allowing them to be hu- 
man. Yet one, who was at that time a captive among 
them, represents them as '' kind, loving, and generous," 
and concerning this same monster Philip, records nothing 
that should have condemned him in the eyes of those who 
believed in wars aggressive and defensive, and awarded 
honors to heroes, and martyrs, and conquerors. 

By the Grovernor of Jamestown, a hand was severed 
from the arm of a peaceful, unofi"endiug Indian, that he 
might be sent back a terror to his people, and through the 
magnanimity of a daughter and King of that same people, 
that Colony was saved from destruction. It was through 
their love and trust alone that Powhatan and Pocahontas 
lost their forest dominions. 

' Hospitality was one of the Indians' distinguishing vir- 
tues, and there was no such thing among them as individ- 
ual starvation or want. As long as there was a cup of 



30 THE IROQUOIS. 

soup, it was divided. If a friend or stranger called he was 
welcome to all their wigwams could furnish, and to offer 
him food was not a custom merely, for it was a breach of 
politeness for him to refuse to eat, however full he might 
be.'. 

Because their system was not like ours, it does not 
follow that it was not a system. We might have looked 
into a wigwam or lodge, and thought every thing in con- 
fusion ; while to the occupants, there was a place for 
every thing and every thing in its place. Each had his 
couch, which answered for bed by night and seat by day, 
and no other person would have thought of appropriating 
it, any more than a private apartment would be thus ap- 
propriated among us. 

The ceremonies at their festivals were as regular as 
in our churches ; their rules of war were as well defined 
as those of Christian nations, and in their games and ath- 
letic sports, there was a code of honor which it was dis- 
graceful to violate ; their marriage vows were as well 
understood, and courtesy as formally practised at their 
dances. 

The nature of the Indian was in all respects like the 
nature of people of any other nation, and if placed in the 
same circumstances he exhibited the same passions and 
vices. But in his forest home there was not the same 
temptation to great crimes, or what are usually termed 
the lesser ones of slander, scandal, and gossip, as exists 
among civilized nations. 

They knew nothing of the desire of gain, and there- 
fore were not made selfish by the love of hoarding, and 
there was no temptation to steal where they had all things 
common ; and their reverence for truth and fidelity to pro- 
mises, may well put all the nations of Christendom to 
shame. 



THE CHRISTIAN AND INDIAN CONTRASTED. 31 

I have written in something of the spirit which would 
characterize the history written by an Indian, yet it does 
not deserve to be called Indian partiality, but only justice 
and the spirit of humanity, or, if I may be allowed to 
say it, the spirit with which any Christian should be able 
to consider the character and deeds of his foes. I would 
not derogate from the virtues of our forefathers. They 
were at that time unrivalled, but the bigotry and super- 
stition of the dark ages still lingered among them, and their 
own perils blinded them to the wickedness and cruelty of 
the means they took for defence. Four, and perhaps 
two centuries hence, I doubt not, some of our dogmas will 
seem as unchristian, as theirs seem to us ; and I truly 
hope ere then our wars will seem as barbarous, and the 
fantastic dress of our soldiers as ridiculous, as we have 
been in the habit of representing the wars and wild drapery 
of the Indian of the forest. 

How long were the Saxon and Celt in becoming a 
civilized and Christian people 1 How long since the hel- 
met, the coat of mail, and the battle-axe were laid aside ? 
To make himself more terrific, the Briton of the days of 
Henry II. drew the skin of a wild beast over his armor, 
with the head and ears standing upright, and mounted his 
war-horse to go forth crying " to arms ! " "death to the 
invader ! " The paint and the eagle plume of the Indian 
warrior were scarcely a more barbarous invention, nor 
his war-cry more terrible. 

It is not just to compare the Indian of the fifteenth 
with the Christian of the fifteenth century. Compare him 
with the barbarian of Britain, of Russia, of Lapland, 
Kamtschatka and Tartary, and represent him as truly as 
these nations have been represented, and he will not suffer 
by the comparison. 



32 THE IROQUOIS. 



CHAPTER IL 

NATIONAL government; OR, LONG HOUSE OF THE 
IROQUOIS LEAGUE. 

Let us look for a moment into the Long House of the 
Indian confederacy, and learn something of the government 
of a people, whom we have been in the habit of considering 
ungoverned, and utterly lawless and rude. 

In the country which stretches from the Hudson to 
Lake Erie, and from the St. Lawrence to the Susquehanna, 
there dwelt five separate nations, concerning whose origin 
we have no knowledge, and with regard to whom all con- 
jecture is vain. 

Concerning themselves they can only say, they grew 
up out of the ground, or sprung up like the trees of the 
forest. They cannot remember when they were not as 
the sand on the sea-shore for multitude, and when their 
laws and manners and customs were not the same as when 
white people came among them. 

They had no written language, and, of course, no written 
lore ; and not a trace of any thing their fathers did, is 
upon leaf or parchment ; but by studying their legends 
and fables, observing and understanding their customs, we 
can easily imagine what they were. 

The Five Nations, called by the French, the Iroquois, 
date the formation of the league only a few years before 



ORIGIN OF THE LEAGUE. 33 

the white man first landed upon their shores, ana it seems 
to be Columbus to whom they refer as the first invader. 

They called themselves the Ho-de-no-sau-ne, or People 
of the Long House ; implying that they were one family, 
sheltered by the same roof. 

Each nation was divided into eight tribes or clans, 
which bear the names of Wolf, Bear, Beaver, Turtle, 
Deer, Snipe, Heron, Hawk, and at the formation of the 
League these names were retained and all their laws and 
customs made with reference to this division into tribes. 

One of the historical traditions concerning this union 
relates that just before its formation there appeared among 
them a most extraordinary and formidable warrior, To-do 
da-ho, whose hair was a mass of living snakes, and whose 
fingers and toes also terminated in living serpents, that 
kept continually hissing and darting their forked tongues. 
The snakes were combed out of his hair by a Mohawk 
Sachem, who was afterwards called Ha-yo-went-ha, the 
man who combs, 

To-do-da-ho, was at first opposed to the league, be- 
cause as the Sachems were all to be of equal power, he 
would be deprived of his importance. But to compensate 
him for giving up the absolute authority he had been ac- 
customed to exercise, the first Sachemship was named for 
him, and the title would descend to all who afterwards 
should fill the same office. And though he who inherits 
it has really no more power than the others, the name sig- 
nifies to them a combination of more noble qualities than 
any other, and is regarded with a little more reverence. 

After the first formation of the league, there seems to 
have been little change in the government or any of the 
institutions connected with it, though it is evident that 
there was a gradual progression in their domestic habits, 
and great improvements in agriculture. The journal of 
2* 



34 THE IROQUOIS. 

De Nonville, who was sent by the French, as commander 
of an expedition against the Six Nations in 1607, speaks 
of Jarge Tillages, especially among the Senecas. In four 
towns the whole number of houses was three hundred and 
twenty four, and in these four villages alone he destroyed 
one million two hundred thousand (1,200,000) bushels of 
corn, besides great quantities of beans, squashes and other 
vegetables. There was also a large fort about fifteen 
miles from the present town of Rochester, of eight hun- 
dred paces in circumference, situated on a commanding 
height overlooking an extensive valley. 

Had the invasions of the Saxons been deferred a cen- 
tury longer, they might have found a state of civiliza- 
tion in New York, as advanced as the Spaniards formed 
among the Aztecs. Their name, as a united people^ had 
spread far and wide, and awakened terror in many a 
bosom. 

" By far MLssissippi the Uliai shrank, 
When the trail of the tortoise was seen on the bank. 
On the hills of Xew England, the Pequod turned pale, 
"Wlien the howl of the -^olf swelled at night on the gale; 
And the Cherokee shook in his green smilling bowers, 
When the foot of the bear stamped his carpet of flowers." 

As the Tuscaroras had been driven away, there were 
only five nations when the league was formed, but the 
exiles returned, and were admitted as one of the families 
of the Long House, in 1715. 

The first council fire was kindled on the north shore 
of the Onondaga lake ; and, in the metaphorical language 
of the Indian, was spoken of as always burning, to indi- 
cate that the people were ever acting in concert. The 
Mohawks dwelt at the eastern door, and kept watch to- 
wards the rising sun. The Senecas were the western door, 



LESIGN OF T^Z LEaSTZ, 35 

and were expected to defend the western lodge, tliat no 
enemy should enter towards the setting sun. 

The Onondag-is were in the centre, and to them was 
cDmmitted the council brand and the wampum, and they 
were eip^eoted to undersrand the keep ins: of records bj 
:he wampum belt. 

There were created dftv Sichemships, all the Sachems 
being of djual authority — nine belonging to the Mohawk 
nation, nine to the Oneida, fourteen to the Onondaga, ten 
to the Cayuga, and eight to the Seneca nation. They 
had no separate territory over which each ruled, but, in 
general council, attended to the a^airs of the whole. 

Formerly, when their numbers increased so that their 
fields could not furnish com, nor their forests yenison for 
so great a number, a band would go forth in search of new 
hunting-grounds, and thus be lost to their people and 
kindred. But now they were to belong to the confederacy 
wherever they might roam, and continue their allegiance. 

It was not for the purpose of conquering and subju- 
gating that the new government was formed, though they 
hoped, by this means, better to defend themselves against 
their border enemies, yet they became very formidable in 
their consolidated strength, and carried a war of exter- 
mination among all the surrounding nations, who would 
not join the league, or leave them in peace. 

' Nought in the woods now their might eonld oppoise, 
Nought oouid withstand their confederate blows — 
Banded in strecgth, and united in soul. 
They moved on their course with the cataract's rolL** 

Their names were very significant, and whether belong- 
ing to persons or places, were descriptive of something in 
their lives or national history. 

To the Onondagas belonged the privilege of naming 



36 THE IROQUOIS. 

the Sachems, when the league was formed, and as these 
names were to descend to all the Sachems of posterity, it 
was a perpetual honor to the nation. In council they 
were addressed as Ho-de-sau-no-gata — name-bearers. 

Onondaga signifies on the hills^ as their principal vil- 
lage, at the time they became known, was upon an emi- 
nence overlooking a beautiful country. 

The Oneidas were the granite j^eoj^Ie, sprung from a 
stone, and they, too, dwelt upon a hill, from which they 
could look far away through an extensive and fertile 
valley, on the borders of Oneida lake. The stone 
which was the rallying point of the people, is a great 
boulder^ differing in geological formation from any within 
a hundred miles. In council, they came afterwards to be 
called the great tree people, from some occurrence in a 
treaty beneath a big tree. The original Oneida stone may 
be seen in the cemetery at Utica. 

The first settlement of the Cayugas was at the foot 
of Cayuga lake, and they were called the j^^^oi^Ie at the 
tnuchy land. In council they were called the great-jyijye 
people. The tradition concerning them is explanatory of 
all Indian names. The ideal was seldom understood by 
those who interpreted them. "When it is said, the man of 
this nation whose voice was first heard in council, was in 
the habit of smoking a great pipe, it is true, but conveys 
nothing to us, that it conveys to the Indians. When the 
chiefs and sachems were all seated in the council chamber, 
they commenced smoking, filling their pipes anew when a 
speech was about to be made, that they might listen without 
interruption. The Cayuga had a large pipe, so that his to- 
bacco lasted longer than that of others, and he could, there- 
fore, longer attend, and was better able to concentrate his 
thoughts ; to say he was the great-pipe man, was the same 



INDIAN TRAITS. 37 

as saying he was more thoughtful, and listening more at- 
tentively, he was better able to judge. 

The device of the Mohawks was a fiint and steel, be- 
cause they first proposed the formation of the league, and 
struck the first council fire. In Council they were called 
Da-de-o-ga, the people of the two policies^ because a 
portion were in favor of the league, and a portion were 
not. 

The Senecas being at the door, were called the first 
fire ; the Cayugas, the second ; and those next in order, 
the third and fourth, on to the Mohawks, who were the 
fifth. As they had no cisterns or wells, they built their 
habitations upon the borders of the rivers, near bubbling 
springs, and on the shores of lakes. The boundaries be- 
tween the different nations were distinctly defined, and in 
their hunting excursions they confined themselves to their 
own territory, whilst within the limits under the jurisdic- 
tion of the league, but without their united borders, they 
roamed unrestrained, and all had equal liberty on the soil 
of their enemies. 

It seems a curious problem now, how such a people 
were to be called together ; but their runners were 
almost as fleet of foot as the deer in the forest, and their 
trails were the connecting links, not only between village 
and village, clans and nations, but stretched far away to 
the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic 
ocean and the northern lakes. They were a mere foot- 
path, just wide enough for one to walk therein^ but they 
were sometimes so deep by the myriad footsteps which 
traversed them for centuries, that the sides were several 
inches deep. And these trails have become the thorough- 
fare of our great nation. In them the Indians wound along 
beneath the mountains and through the valleys, carrying the 
light canoe upon their shoulders, in which they skimmed 



38 THE IROQUOIS. 

the broadest lakes and deepest rivers, and were so familiar 
with all the connecting links, that the darkest recesses of 
the forest were threaded as easily as the streets of a vil- 
lage, and almost as quickly as the fiery engine wheels its 
way over the smooth iron pathway. I have heard a young 
Indian say, that his father had often run from Lake Erie 
to the Gulf of Mexico, and for four or five days at a time, 
scarcely stopping to eat by the way. And I have heard 
an aged Indian say, that in the days of his youth, he 
would run the distance between certain boundaries, which 
must have included forty miles, returning the same day, 
and thought it no great feat. Only a few years ago there 
was a trial of speed between an Indian runner and several 
horsemen, or their caparisoned steeds, and the runner 
left the horsemen far in the rear. But it is not by these 
thoroughfares alone that the Indian is to be traced in all 
our borders. Their expressive and musical names are 
upon every hill-side, in every glen ; in the foaming cata- 
ract and on the bosom of the broad lake, — from the moun- 
tain top to the green islet in the midst of the waves, we 
listen to their silvery voices. 

" Ye say that all have passed away, 

The noble race and brave, 
That their light canoes have vanished 

From off the crested wave ; 
That 'mid the forests where they roamed, 

There rings no hunters' shout ; 
But their name is on your waters, 

Ye may not wash it out. 

Ye say their cone-like cabins, 

That clustered o'er the vale, 
Have disappeared like withered leaves 

Before the autumn gale ; 



COUNCILS. 39 

But their memory liveth on your hills, 

Their baptism on your shore, 
Your ever living waters speak 

Their dialect of yore." 

The several nations held nearly the same relationship 
to each other and the league, that the several States do 
to the Federal Government, and it has been said that they 
gave to our Fathers the idea of E Pluribus Unum. 

Their Councils were divided into three classes. The 
Civil Council for the purpose of considering their foreign 
relations, and transacting business upon foreign affairs; 
the Mourning Council, which was called upon the death 
of a Sachem, to fill a vacancy, if one had occurred, or 
confer upon a brave warrior the title and ofl&ce of Chief; 
and the Religious Councils, convened, as the name implies, 
for religious observances. 

The chiefs did not form any part of the original corps 
of officers, but were admitted afterwards, and in their 
figurative language were styled the braces of the Long 
House, because a chieftainship was the reward of merit, 
and conferred upon those who had " gained honor in war," 
or those who had in some other way earned distinction, 
and were ambitious of renown. And it is recorded as a 
curious fact in their history, that all their great orators 
were among the Chiefs. Except the three of the first 
fifty Sachems, there has never one attained to any dis- 
tinction until Logan, who was the son of a Cayuga Chief, 
and himself a Sachem. The Sachems attended entirely 
to the aff'airs of peace, and had not so much to arouse 
their enthusiasm, as those who had mingled in the excite- 
ments of war. No Sachem could be at the same time a 
civil officer and a warrior ; if he took the war-path, he 
laid aside for the time his governmental duties. That 



40 THE IROQUOIS. 

their League was not instituted for the purpose of making 
war, is evident from the fact, that there was no war de- 
partment connected with the government. All war ex- 
peditions were private enterprises. The nations not be- 
longing to the League were considered enemies, and any 
warrior was at liberty to form a party and constitute 
himself leader or captain, and go forth to conquer ; if he 
was successful, he was honored with a chief-ship and seat 
in the Council, but no special military power was con- 
ferred on him, as the Indian Confederacy seemed to have 
as much fear of military supremacy as our own govern- 
ment. 

But there was this difference between their government 
and ours — when the council was not sitting there was no 
administration of affairs. If any thing happened in any 
tribe or nation that required the advice or deliberation of 
the assembled Sachems, a runner was sent to the nation 
nearest, and they sent a messenger to the next, and so on, 
till all had been apprised. 

If, for instance, the Senecas wished a council called, 
the Sachems of this nation convened and determined whe- 
ther the matter was of suflficient importance to require a 
council of the Six Nations. If they concluded it was, 
they sent a runner^ with a wampum belt, to the Cayugas. 
The Cayugas informed the Onondagas in the same manner, 
and they the Oneidas, and the Oneidas the Mohawks. If 
it was something which interested all, the effect was like 
an electric shock ; and not the Sachems and chiefs and 
warriors alone, but women and little children gathered 
around the council fire, coming from the farthest limits 
of their territory, heeding no toil or danger in their zeal 
for the common welfare. 

No message was of any weight unless it was accom- 
panied by the wampum belt. This originally consisted of 




BKLT, 



WAMPUM AND CALUMET. 41 

small shells, strung upon strings of deer-skin. After tlieir 
acquaintance with the Dutch they used manufactured 
wampum, which resembled small pieces of broken pipe 
stem. The belts consisted of several strings, woven to- 
gether, and were some of them black and some white. 
The process by which they treasured up speeches and 
events was a kind of mnemonics, and done entirely by 
association. " This belt preserves my words," was the 
common expression at the end of every speech or sentence, 
and each part was associated with a particular portion of 
the belt or string which was held in the hand. When 
messengers were sent from tribe to tribe, or nation to 
nation, the wampum belt was the proof of its genuineness, 
and without it no messenger was heeded. White was the 
emblem of peace, and black of war, or danger. 

The calumet of peace is another mysterious symbol 
among the Indians, and not less respected than the sceptre 
of a king. It is a species of pipe of stone, with the head 
finely polished, and the quill two feet and a half long, 
made of a strong reed. The red calumets are most es- 
teemed, and often trimmed with white, yellow, and green 
feathers. 

" "Whilst high he lifted in his hand 
The sign of peace, Ihe calumet ; 
So sacred to the Indian soul, 
With its stem of reed, and its dark red bowl. 
Flaunting with feathers — white, yellow, and green." 

It is \hQJiag of truce among Indian nations, and a viola- 
tion of it as disgraceful among them as an insult to the 
waving stars and stripes of the United States, or the Lion 
and the Unicorn^ when these national emblems are borne 
to the enemy's camp as a signal that strife may cease. 
Smoking the calumet together was a pledge of amity, 



42 THE mOQUOIS. 

and was often used as a figure of speech, in the expression 
of friendship. Their language is a language of metaphors, 
and very difiicult to be translated or interpreted into any 
other, and is to them full of classical allusions^ as every 
important event is transmitted by transferring it to some 
person as a name, or baptizing with it some mountain, 
lake, or stream. 

No son or daughter of any tribe was allowed to marry 
a person belonging to a tribe of the same name in his own 
or any other nation. A Deer of the Seneca nation could 
marry a Turtle of his own, or of the Mohawk or Cayuga 
nation, and so of each of the others. But a Wolf could 
not marry a Wolf, or a Heron a Heron. 

The children belonged to the tribe of the mother. If 
she was of the Deer tribe all her children were of the Deer 
tribe. They called her mother, and also called her sisters 
mother, and her sister's children, brothers and sisters : and 
hence arose the impossibility of marrying in their own 
clan. They looked upon all belonging to it as one family, 
and a marriage within those degrees of consanguinity was 
as disgraceful and revolting in their eyes as a marriage 
with us between real brothers and sisters. 

The ofi&ces also. Sachems, etc., were inherited in the 
line of the mothers. So it will be seen that the women 
were treated with quite as much respect as among Christian 
governments, and though they cultivated the fields and 
were the servants of men in some respects, their toil was 
very light, and it is the testimony of captives who have 
resided a long time among them, that their lords were 
uniformly kind and considerate. 

The emblem of power worn by the Sachem was a 
deer''s antlers, and if in any instance the women disapproved 
of the election or acts of a Sachem, they had the power to 
remove his horns and return him to private life. Their 



INDIAN WOMEN. 43 

officers or runners from council to council were chosen by 
themselves and denominated ivoino'Cs men^ and by these 
their interests were always fully represented. If at any 
time they wished any subject considered, by means of 
their runners, they called a council in their clan ; if it was 
a matter of more general interest there was a council of 
the nation, and if the opinions of the women or Sachems 
of other nations were necessary, a grand council was called 
as readily to attend to them as to the interests of men. 
Thus a way was provided for them to have a voice in the 
affairs of the nation, without endangering their ivomanly 
reserve or subjecting them to the masculine reproach of 
publicity, or a desire to assume the offices and powers of 
men ! 

It is not recorded that they were more unreasonable 
than men, or more disposed to disputations, or that they 
ever abused their privileges ! Neither do we find that 
they ever encroached upon the powers granted them, or 
" meddled with that which did not belong to them." 
They never manifested any desire to become warriors, or 
Sachems, or chiefs ; but, on the contrary, planted corn, 
dressed deer-skins, and worked wampum belts for centuries 
without a murmur, and their pale sisters might more con- 
tentedly follow their example if treated with the same 
deference and consideration ! 

The land, they said, belonged to the warriors who 
defended it, and to the women who tilled it, and who were 
also the mothers and wives of the warriors, and if the 
men had not degraded themselves by intemperance and 
left themselves to be bribed to act dishonestly, and make 
treaties contrary to the rules of their people, and the 
judgment of the best men and all the women, their glory 
would not have thus faded away ! 



44 THE IROQUOIS. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE RELIGION OF THE IROQUOIS. 

The council fire was the watchword in Indian government, 
in Indian politics, and Indian life. Around it old and 
youDg rallied on all occasions of public interest, and con- 
nected with it were the most delightful associations, 
memories, and legends of Indian history. 

Indian eloquence has been the theme of poet and his- 
torian, and it was at the council fire that the enthusiasm 
of the orator was kindled ; here the war-song awoke its 
echoes ; here was heard 

" The sound of revelry by night," 

when victory filled their hearts with rejoicing ; and here 
were celebrated their solemn feasts. 

When they gathered together, they came over the 
mountain and through the valley; crossed the silvery 
lake and the flowing river ; listened to the music of the 
winds among the forest boughs, the songs of the birds, 
and the rippling of the waters ; and to their quick impul- 
sive spirits, all the voices of nature were inspiration. 

The kindling of the council fire was the signal for the 
display of their eloquence, when danger threatened from 
their enemies, and their young men panted for the war- 
path ; and when they returned, around its glowing embers 



ANECDOTE. 45 

was chanted the mournful requiem for those who had 
fallen in battle. Here, too, were offered the prayers that 
they might be taken to the " happy home beyond the set- 
ting sun ;" and here, at each returning festival, the song 
of thanksgiving went up to heaven, with the burning in- 
cense, for the good gifts which were showered upon the 
people. 

There was little of what we term social life among the 
Indians. There were among them large villages, but 
there were no streets. They had houses and occupied 
them during some portion of the year, season after season, 
perhaps for centuries ; but still they were considered, in 
a measure, temporary abodes. The hunters left them 
many months in the winter, for their excursions into dis- 
tant forests, and the warriors were often absent weeks, 
and sometimes years. Often the women accompanied 
them on the war path and the hunting tour, and they re- 
turned to their homes, as to a resting-place, till they were 
ready again to go forth. 

At the annual festivals they all gathered, and these 
were the seasons of sociality, of amusement, and religious 
instruction. 

Not very long ago, a Romish priest visited a small 
Indian settlement, for the purpose of establishing a church. 
The people met together to listen to the expounding of 
the new doctrine and ceremonies ; and after respectful 
attention to all the preacher had to say, an aged chief 
arose, and deliberately and coolly remarked that he could 
not see the necessity of a change from their Pagan cus- 
toms and doctrines to these which had been presented, 
as they were so similar. So they went on in the old way, 
and the priest found no foothold for his worse than Pagan 
mummeries. 

The Iroquois believed in a state of future rewards and 



46 THE IROQUOIS. 

punishments, where the good would be separated from 
the bad ; but they did not descend into the depths of the 
heart to find sin, or trouble themselves about the motives 
of action. Their code of morality, as well as religious 
creed, was very simple ; but all that it required they per- 
formed. 

They believed in one God — Ha-wen-ne yu — the Great 
ruler, and ascribed to Him all good. They also believed 
in the Evil One, who was similar to the Devil of the 
Bible, as they believed him ever going about doing evil, 
" seeking whom he might devour." But they also supposed 
him to possess creative powers, saying that as God created 
man and all useful animals, so the Evil-minded created 
all monsters, noxious reptiles, and poisonous plants. As 
one delighted in the virtue and happiness of his creatures, 
the other delighted in discord and unhappiness. 

There have been found individuals who worshipped 
visible and tangible objects ; but, as a people, theirs was 
an entirely spiritual religion, and in this respect, differed 
from that of all other heathen nations. 

The author of " principalities and powers " could not 
more thoroughly believe in guardian angels, and '' princes 
of the powers of the air," than these simple people, who 
never heard of Revelation ; and whose Theology, though 
systematic and well defined, never caused them any wars 
of words or of more "carnal weapons." Not only they 
themselves, but every thing in nature, that was beautiful 
to the eye or good for food, had a protecting spirit. There 
was the spirit of fire, of medicine and of water ; the spirit 
of- every herb and fruit-bearing tree ; the spirit of the 
oak, the hemlock and the maple ; the spirit of the black- 
berry, the blueberry and the whortleberry ; the spirit of 
spearmint, of peppermint and tobacco ; there was a spirit 
at every fountain and by every running stream, and with 



EMPLOYMENT IN HEAVEN. 47 

all they held communion — personifying every mountain 
and river and lake. The poet has done them no more than 
justice in the following lines ; * 

" Gwe-ii-gwe the lovely ! Gwe-u-gwe the bright ! 
Our bosoms rejoice in thy beautiful sight : 
Thou hearest our kah-we-yahs, we bathe in thy flow, 
And when we are hungered thy bounties we know. 

" In pca^e now is spread the pure plain of thy waves, 
Like the maidens that cast their kind looks on their Braves ; 
But when the black tempest comes o'er with its sweep. 
Like the Braves on their war-path fierce rages thy deep, 

" Thou art lovely, when morning breaks forth from the sky, 
Thou art lovely when noon hurls his darts from on high, 
Thou art lovely, when sunset paints brightly thy brow, 
And in moonlight and starlight still lovely art thou. 

" Gwe-u-gwe, Gwe-u-gwe, how sad would we be 
"Were the gloom of our forests not brightened by thee ; 
Ha-wen-ne-yu would seem from his sons turned away, 
Gwe-u-gwe, Gwe-u-gwe, then list to our lay." 

To any person who has taken pains to understand 
their character or their faith it must be strikingly evident 
that they were a peculiarly confiding and loving people. 
Their God was emphatically a God of love. They could 
not easily comprehend how the Good Spirit could medi- 
tate evil to any of his children. They looked up to him 
with confidence, and not only said and believed, but felt 
that he heard them and granted their prayers. 

Some of the Indian nations expected to hunt and fish 
in the other world, and engage in all the occupations 
which employ them in this. But the Iroquois divested 
it more entirely of its sensual nature. All that was 

* Street. 



48 THE IROQUOIS. 

beautiful m this world tlieir imaginations transferred to the 
next ; and though they believed they took their bodies, and 
retained all their faculties, it was for pleasure and never 
for toil. There was "no marriage or giving in marriage," 
but families would recognize each other, and all live in 
one universal brotherhood, where neither dissension nor 
sorrow could enter, and where there was no more death. 
No people of whom we have any knowledge are so 
thoroughly imbued with religious sentiment, though it 
seldom became exalted into enthusiasm. It is simple 
trust and love, and pervaded all their thoughts and 
actions. 

They had no governmental officers whose sole duty it 
was to regulate public affairs, and no religious teachers 
who devoted all their time to the " spiritual concerns " of 
the people. But there were some who had special duties 
to perform when they assembled for their festivals, who 
were called ''keepers of the faith," and, in accordance 
with their universal custom, in promoting women, they, as 
well as men, were honored with this office. 

They opened the ceremonies by some appropriate ad- 
dress, exercised a general suspervision during the celebra- 
tions and presided at the feasts. Neither Sachems, chiefs, 
warriors, or keepers of the faith received any compensa- 
tion for the duties they performed, or wore any distin- 
guishing costume. 

During the year there were six national festivals, at 
which the ceremonies and observances were nearly the 
same ; and all were of a decidedly religious character, 
and so conducted that they were looked forward to as 
seasons of enjoyment, in which all had an equal interest. 
There was not a class of religious and a class of irreligious 
people — a portion who lifted their hearts to God in 
gratitude and sung thanksgivings, and another portion 



MAPLE FESTIVAL. 49 

who " cared for none of these things ; " they were one 
nation, one church and one people, with the same govern- 
ment, the same temple and the same faith. Yet there 
were no penalties for disobedience, no excommunications, 
no anathemas and no proselyting. They were indeed a 
strange people, and one is sometimes tempted to doubt 
whether they were entirely human, but I think it would 
certainly be above, rather than below, the human family that 
they would occupy a place ! It seems marvellous to those 
who have been all their lives attempting to unravel and 
perfect the complicated machinery of society^ that whole 
nations could exist for centuries exemplifying to perfec- 
tion the command of Paul, " to learn in whatever state 
they are in to be content." 

There are many customs among them now that seem 
to have been obtained from the Jesuit missionaries who 
with their characteristic zeal were so early among them. 
Their strings of wampum by which they confess their sins 
bear a great resemblance to the beads of the Catholics, 
yet they seem to have no idea of atonement for sin. 

The first festival was held in the spring when the sap 
began to flow, to return thanks to the maple for its sweet 
juices, and also to God for having given it to his red 
children. Dancing constituted a part of their religious 
worship, and they believed was particularly pleasing to 
Ha-wen-ne-yu. They had thirty-two distinct dances, and 
some of them were exceedingly graceful and beautiful. 
They danced all the way through this world and expected 
to dance in Heaven. They were not so much given to 
praying as to giving thanks, and only one festival was ap- 
pointed for the purpose of asking a blessing. This was at 
the planting season, to implore that the " seed time and 
harvest " be one of prosperity, and that the earth might 
yield abundantly for their food, 
3 



go THE IROQUOIS. 

The strawberry was one of their delicacies, and one 
which they believed they were to enjoy in another world. 
Some of them indeed expected the felicity of Heaven to 
consist in one continual strawberry feast, and this is some- 
thing from which the most cultivated palate will not re- 
volt, and is a proof that there was a great degree of re- 
finement in their taste ! So they had a special festival to 
give thanks for the Strawberry ; another called the Green 
Corn festival, when the corn, and beans, and squashes 
ripened; another after the harvest, and a New Year's 
festival, which was the great jubilee of the Six Nations. 

The ceremonies at each festival were nearly the same. 
They gathered in summer under the green boughs, and 
first made preparations for a great feast, which consisted 
of all the good things an Indian wife's storehouse, could 
furnish, and which was conducted with the utmost order 
and solemnity. 

After the feast, the men indulged in various sports 
and games, which were trials of strength and skill, and 
then was called the Council, at the opening of which, a 
speech was made, of which the following is a specimen. 

" Friends and relatives : — The sun, the ruler of the 
day, is high in his path, and we must hasten to do our duty. 
We are assembled to observe an ancient custom. It is an 
institution handed down by our forefathers. It was given 
to them by the Great Spirit. He has ever required them 
to return thanks for all the blessings they receive. We 
have always endeavored to live faithful to this wise com- 
mand. 

" Friends and relatives : — It is to perform this duty 
that we are this day gathered together. The season when 
the maple tree yields its sweet waters has again returned. 
We are all thankful that it is so. We therefore expect 
all to join in one general thanksgiving to the Maple. We 



THANKS TO TJIE GREAT SPIRIT. 51 

also expect jou to join in a thanksgiving to the Great 
Spirit who has wisely made this tree for the good of man. 
We hope and expect order and harmony will prevail. 

" Friends and relatives : — "VVe are gratified to see so 
many here, and we thank you that you have all thought 
well of this matter. We thank the Great Spirit that he 
has been so kind to many of us in sparing our lives to 
participate in the festivities of the season." 

During the session of the council, several similar ad- 
dresses were made, accompanied by advice, intended to in- 
spire them with a desire to live as they knew would be 
pleasing to the Great Spirit ; when the services of the day 
were closed with a dance, called the Great Father da nee 
" which was very spirited and beautiful : " for this there was 
a peculiar costume prescribed, and in it all joined. After 
this followed other dances, and then a thanksgiving ad- 
dress to the Great Spirit, during which, they continually 
threw tobacco upon the fire, that their words might as- 
cend to Heaven upon the incense. It was only when ad- 
dressing the Great Spirit directly that they used ncense. 

'* Great Spirit, who dwellost above, listen now to the 
words of thy people here assembled. The smoke of our 
ofi'ering arises. Give kind attention to our words as they 
arise to Thee in the smoke. We thank Thee for this re- 
turn of the planting season. Give to us a good season 
that our crops may be plentiful. 

" Continue to listen, for the smoke yet arises (throw- 
ing on Tobacco). Preserve us from all pestilential dis- 
eases. Give strength to us that we may not fall. Pre- 
serve our old men among us, and protect the young. Help 
us to celebrate with feeling the ceremonies of the season. 
Guide the minds of thy people that they may remember 
Thee in all their actions." 



52 THE IROQUOIS. 

The poet has rendered this prayer in the following 
words : * 

" Mighty, mighty, Ha-wen-ne-yu, Spirit, pure and mighty ! hear us, 
We thine own Ho-de-no-sonne, wilt thou be for ever near us! 
Keep the sacred flame still burning ! guide our chase, our planting 

cherish. 
Make our warrior hearts yet taller! let our foes before us perish! 
Kindly watch our waving harvests! make each Sachem's wisdom 

deeper ! 
Of our old men ! of our women, of our children be the keeper ! 
Mighty Ha-wen-ne-yu, Spirit pure and mighty hear us ! 
We thine own Ho-de-no-sonne, wilt thou be for ever near us ! 

" Might}?-, mighty, Ha-wen-ne-yu, thou dost, Spirit, purest, greatest, 
Love thine own Ho-de-no-sonne, thou as well their foemen hatest. 
Panther's heart and eye of eagle, moose's foot and fox's cunning, 
Thou dost give our valiant people when the war path's blood is 



runnuisc 



But the eye of owl in daylight, foot of turtle, heart of woman, 
Stupid brain of bear in winter, to our valiant people's foemen ; 
Mighty, holy, Hah-wen-ne-j^u ! Spirit pure and mighty ! hear us. 
We thine own Ho-de-no-sonne, wilt thou be for ever near us! 
Yah-hah for ever near us! wilt thou be for ever near us! " 

If there was not an abundance of rain, so that the 
corn did not flourish after it was planted, they often called 
another council, and held another festival, to pray for 
rain. At this time they addressed Heno^ the Thunderer, 
in whose power it was to form clouds, and give water to 
refresh the earth. He was to the Indian what Jupiter 
was to the Roman, and inspired him with the same terror. 
He could inflict great evil, and calamities were ascribed 
to his vengeance. He was subject, as were all the lesser 
spirits, to Ha-wen-ne-yu, but was yet very powerful. He 
is represented in the form of a man, in the costume of a 
warrior, with a feather upon his head, which, like the wand 

* Street. 



ADDRESS TO HENO. 53 

of the fairy, preserved him from the influence of the Evll- 
MiNDED, and procured him whatever he desired. On his 
hack he carried a basket filled with stones, which he threw 
at witches and evil spirits, as he rode through the clouds. 
The Great Spirit was implored to take care of him, and 
at every festival thanks were rendered to Heno^ and sup- 
plications made for his watchful goodness. They called 
themselves his Grandchildren; and if the earth was 
parched, and the plants were withering, they met and laid 
before him their distresses. 

" Heno, our Grandfather, now listen to the words of 
thy Grandchildren. "We feel grieved. Our minds are 
sorely troubled. "We fear our supporters will fail, and 
bring famine upon us. "We ask our Grandfather to come 
and give us rain, that the earth may not dry up, and re- 
fuse to produce us support. Thy Grandchildren all send 
their salutations to their Grandfather." 

Fearing that some of the people had done wrong, and 
it was for their sins that the " early and latter rains " were 
withheld, they, at the same time, prayed to the Great 
Spirit, throwing tobacco upon the fire, that their words 
might reach his ear and prove acceptable. 

" Great Spirit, listen to the words of thy sufi'ering 
children. They come to thee with pure minds. If they 
have done wrong, they have confessed and turned their 
minds. Be kind to us. Hear our grievances and supply 
our wants. Direct that Heno may come and give us rain^ 
that our supporters may not fail, and famine come to our 
homes." 

Those who have been in the habit of thinking the In- 
dians a godless, prayerless, and perfectly heathen race, 
will read, with surprise, those outpourings of their hearts 
in perfect love and trust, and their simple dependence 
upon the Great Giver for all they enjoyed. If they did 



64 THE IROQUOIS. 

wrong, they believed He would forgive them ; if they did 
right, they believed He approved and loved them. They 
had no Sabbaths, yet they instituted regular periods of 
worship and formal ceremonies. These periods were in- 
dicated to them by natural events, and they heeded the 
voice of the spring-time and harvest, and " looked through 
nature up to Nature's God." 

At the strawberry festival, the feast consisted entirely 
of strawberries, eaten with maple sugar, in bark trays ; 
and it was at these feasts alone that they all ate together, 
and before partaking, they were accustomed to say grace, 
as devoutly and reverentially as Christian people. 

A popular poet has thus rendered the thanksgiving 
prayer at the strawberry festival, which was repeated 
at every returning season, when they met to express their 
gratitude for this delicious fruit : * 

*• Earth, we thank thee ! thy great frame 
Bears the stone from whence we came ; 
And the boundless sweeping gloom, 
Of our glorious league the Home. 
Thou the strawberry's seed dost fold, 
Thou its little roots dost hold, 
First of all the fruits that raise 
Gifts for us in summer days. 

Thanks, too, thanks we give thee, lowly 

Ha-wen-ne-yu, great and holy ! 

Maker wise ! of all the sire — 

Earth and water, air and fire. 

"Water, thanks ' we safely glide, 
On thy bosom long and wide ; 
Thou dost give the strawberry vine 
Drink when bot the sunbeams shine. 
Till its leaves spread fresh and bright, 
And its buds burst forth in white. 

* Street. 



SUCCOTASH. 65 

Thanks, too, thanks we give thee, lowly, 
Ha-wen-ne-yu, great and holy ! 
Maker wise ! of all the sire — 
Earth and watf r, air and fire. 

Air, we thank thee for the breeze. 
Sweeping off the dire disease : 
Thou dost bring the gentle rains ; 
Thou dost cool our feverish veins ; 
Thou dost kiss the strawberry flower. 
Till its little wreath of snow 
Swings its fragrance to and fro. 

Thanks, too, thanks we give thee, lowly 

Ha-wen-ne-yu, great and holy ! 

Maker wise ! of all the sire — 

Earth and water, air and fire ! 

Fire, we thank thee for thy ball. 
With its glory brightening all ; 
And the blaze which warms our blood. 
Lights our weed, and cooks our food. 
To thy glance the strawberry swells, 
With its ripening particles. 
Till the fruit is at our tread, 
In its beauty, rich and red. 

Thanks, too, thanks we give thee, lowly, 

Ha-wen-ne-yu, great and holy : 

Maker wise! of all the sire — 

Earth and water, air and fire ! " 

At the green corn festival, the feast consisted princi- 
pally of succotash, which is supposed by many to be a 
Yankee dish^ but which dates farther back than centuries, 
and is purely Indian, being a soup of corn, and beans, 
boiled together. Any thing in the way of soup can scarcely 
be more delicious. 

But the grand Indian jubilee was the New Year's 
festival, held in the month of February. 



56 THE IROQUOIS. 

This festival lasted nine days, and the ceremonies com- 
menced by two persons, generally of those called Keepers 
of the Faith, making a call at every house morning and 
evening, dressed so as to disguise the real personages. 

They would envelope themselves in buffalo or bear- 
skins, fastened about their heads with wreaths of corn- 
husks, and falling loosely over the body or girdled about 
the loins. Their arms and wrists, too, were ornamented 
with wreaths of husks, and in their hands they took corn 
pounders. On entering a house they knocked upon the 
floor to command silence, and then made a speech. 

" Listen, listen, listen. The ceremonies which the 
Great Spirit commanded us to perform, are about to com- 
mence. Prepare your houses. Clear away the rubbish, 
drive out all evil animals ; we wish nothing to obstruct 
the coming observances. We enjoin every one to obey our 
requirements. Should any of your friends be taken sick 
and die, we command you not to mourn for them, nor al- 
low any of your friends to mourn. But lay the body 
aside and enjoy the coming ceremonies with us ; when they 
are over we will mourn with you." 

When the address was finished they sang a thanks- 
giving song and departed, to repeat the ceremony in every 
house. 

And so scrupulous were they in performing these cere- 
monies, that if a person did die during this festival, the 
body was put aside, and no evidence of sorrow was visible 
till the end of the nine days, when the usual funeral rites 
were performed, and the mourning hymns were chanted as 
if the calamity had just occurred. 

In all their religious festivals they had only one sacri- 
fice, and this was at the beginning of the year. 

All white animals were considered consecrated to the 
Great Spirit, as white was the emblem of purity and faith. 



THANKSGIVING ADDRESS. 57 

But dogs alone were sacrified. On the first day of the 
festival one was chosen, and sometimes two, " without spot 
or blemish," and strangled, carefully avoiding shedding 
of blood or breaking the bones. He was then painted 
with red spots and decorated with feathers, and around 
his neck hung a string of wampum. He was then sus- 
pended in the air about twenty feet from the ground, 
where he remained till the fifth day, when he was taken 
down and burned on an altar of wood. As they did not 
recognize any species of atonement, believing that good 
deeds balanced the evil, this could not have been a sacri- 
fice for sin, as superficial observers supposed, neither was 
it a scape-goat to carry away the sins of the people. Their 
sins had nothing to do with it. The dog was a favorite 
animal, and they believed a favorite with the Great Spirit, 
and therefore burned him, that his spirit might ascend to 
heaven with their petitions, that they might find favor in 
the eyes of God. 

As they laid him upon the altar, the great thanks- 
giving address was made, whilst tobacco was continually 
thrown upon the fire that their j^rayers might ascend upon 
the clouds of smoke, and is curious as a specimen of a 
heathen prayer. 

" Hail ! hail ! hail ! Listen now with an open ear to 
the words of thy people, as they ascend to thy dwelling 
in the smoke of thy offering. Look down upon us bene- 
ficently. 

'• Continue to listen : The united voice of thy people 
continues to ascend to thee. Give us power to celebrate 
at all times with zeal and fidelity the sacred ceremonies 
which thou hast given us. Continue to listen : We thank 
thee that the lives of so many of thy children arc spared, 
to participate in these ceremonies. Give to our warriors 
and mothers strength to perform thy sacred ceremonies. 
3* 



58 THE IROQUOIS. 

Ws thank thee that thou hast preserved them pure unto 
this day. 

" We thank thee that the lives of so many of thy 
children are spared to participate in the ceremonies of this 
occasion. 

" We give thanks to our mother the earth which sus- 
tains us. We thank thee that thou hast caused her to 
yield so plentifully of her fruits. Cause that in the 
coming season, she may not withhold of her fulness, and 
leave any to suffer want. 

" We return thanks to the rivers and streams, and 
thank thee that thou hast supplied them with life, for our 
comfort and happiness. Grant that this blessing may 
continue. 

" We return thanks to all the herbs and plants of the 
earth. We return thanks to the three sisters. We return 
thanks to the bushes and trees which provide us with fruit. 
We thank thee that thou hast blest them and made them 
produce for the good of thy creatures. We return thanks 
to the winds, which moving have banished all diseases. 
We thank thee that thou hast thus ordered. 

" We return thanks to our grandfather Heno. We 
thank thee that thou hast provided the rain, to give us 
water, and to cause all plants to grow. We ask thee to 
continue these great blessings. 

" We return thanks to the moon and stars which give 
us light when the sun has gone to rest. Continue to us 
this goodness. We return thanks to the sun, that he has 
looked upon us with a beneficent eye. We thank thee, 
that thou hast in thy unbounded wisdom commanded the 
sun to regulate the seasons, to dispense heat and cold, 
and to watch over the comfort of thy people. Give unto 
us wisdom that will guide us in the path of truth. Keep 
us from all evil ways, that the sun may never hide his 



|i 



GUESSING OF DREAMS. 59 

face from us for shame, and leave us in darkness. Lastly, 
we return thanks to thee, our Creator and Ruler. In 
thee are embodied all things. We believe that thou canst 
do no evil ; that thou doest all things for our good and 
happiness. Be kind to us, as thou hast been to our fathers, 
in times long gone by. Hearken unto our words as they 
have ascended ; and may they be pleasing to thee, our 
Creator, the preserver and ruler of all things, visible and 
invisible." 

All the ceremonies upon these festival days were not 
strictly religious, but consisted of various sports and pas- 
times for amusement. On one day all the people went 
about making calls, in little parties. One of each group 
carried a wooden shovel, and immediately after entering 
the house, began to stir the ashes, and then to scatter a 
little upon the hearth, invoking the blessing of the Great 
Spirit upon the household. 

Another amusement was to form little parties to go 
about and collect materials for a feast. Each family was 
expected to contribute something. If the messengers 
entered a house and nothing was bestowed, they were jus- 
tified in taking whatever they could, without, at the time, 
being discovered. If undetected, they were allowed to 
bear away their treasures ; but if detected, they were 
obliged immediately to give them up and try again. A 
feast was made with the avails of their begging and pur- 
loining, and a dance followed. 

Another diversion was the guessing of dreams. Some 
person went about from house to house telling a wonderful 
dream he had had, and requesting any one who pleased to 
relate it. "Whether those who attempted, guessed rightly 
or not, the dreamer after a while acknowledged that the 
true interpretation had been given, and then he was obliged 



60 THE IROQUOIS. 

io pay a forfeit^ and whatever was required, he cheerfully 
performed, however great the sacrifice. 

There was a great variety of games, and the design and 
effect of all their festivities was, in addition to their 
spiritual improvement, to promote friendly feeling and 
healthy exhilaration ; and, in this, the children of darkness 
were certainly wiser in their generation than some of the 
children of light ! Those who thought it necessary to the 
honor of religion that all merriment should be banished 
from the domestic and social circle, might have learned 
something from the forest heathen, whom they were in the 
habit of pronouncing utterly benighted. The Catholics adopt- 
ed the policy of baptizing paganism, wherever they went. 
Instead of requiring the heathen to give up their national 
or religious ceremonies, they engrafted them upon their 
own, and thus removed all obstacles to their becoming, or 
being called Christians. The Puritans went to the other 
extreme, and would allow little that bore tlie name of 
pleasure. The pagan must renounce not only his religion 
but his health, in order to became a faithful servant of 
the Lord. Every thing that was natural was " carnal," 
and thus religion became repulsive, and, in the eyes of 
many, synonymous with every thing disagreeable. In a 
system which differed from this they could see no good 
thing, and were sadly deficient in a knowledge of human 
nature, and the facility of becoming all things to all men, 
thereby to save some. In throwing off the fetters of su- 
perstition they were scarcely in advance of the red men 
of the wilderness. The beliefs of the Christian and pagan 
in witches almost entirely coincided, and the manner of 
punishing them was nearly the same. The stories of 
ghosts and hobgoblins to which I listened in childhood, 
and which were related in perfect good faith are not less 



INDIAN COURTESY. 61 

ridiculous or more indicative of heathen blindness than 
those which I hear in the wigwam. 

The fables, fairy tales, and rural sports of our Saxon 
ancestors have never been recorded as evidence of their 
inferiority, or as very heinous misdemeanors. Their 
descendants have felt it to be a duty to honor them, and 
have clothed their customs in the garb of fascination ; 
neither their ferocity, their barbarism, nor their super- 
stitions have been held up to scorn. The dark side of the 
picture has been kept entirely out of view. Pages and 
volumes have been devoted also by historians to the 
Olympic and Pythian games, and the " crowns of the 
victors ; " yet they involved no more light, or knowledge, 
or skill, and far less moral purity than the national games 
of the sons of the forest. The Indian had no laurel 
wreaths, believing that to excel was sufficient ; but his 
code of honor was as nice as that of feudal lords in the 
days of chivalry, and no Indian ventured to incur censure 
by transgressing the rules of courtesy. In their dances 
it was the custom for women to choose their partners, and 
no warrior thought of offering his hand to a maiden till 
she had signified that it would be agreeable to her ! 

The Aztecs were more advanced inmany respects than 
the Iroquois ; but their worship was a continued series of 
bloody sacrifices, without any of that beautiful spirituality 
which we see in those who drew near to the Great Spirit, 
not only with their lips but with their hearts, and recog- 
nized his fostering care in all the events of their lives. 

The sacrifice of dogs was universal among all the North 
American Indians ; but for a long time it was alluded to 
as a heathenish custom, without any attempt to understand 
its import. Cotton Mather speaks of it by saying, " That 
the Indians, in their wars with us, finding a sore incon- 
venience by our dogs^ sacrificed a dog to the devil^ after 



62 THE IROQUOIS. 

which no English dog would bark at an Indian for divers 
months ensuing." This would imply that the devil had 
an interpreter, in order to understand the nature of the 
sacrifice, and the manner of influencing the dog ; for the 
author does not give him the credit of being so thorough 
a linguist as to understand himself, as appears by the 
following affirmation . — " Once finding that the daemons 
in a possessed young woman understood the Lectin^ 
Greek, and Hebrew tongues, my curiosity induced me to 
make trial of this Indian language, and the demons did 
seem as if they did not understand it."* And as the In- 
dians were considered little less than demons themselves, 
a learned divine was excusable for not attempting to ac- 
quaint himself with their language or their character. 

But there are those rising up among themselves who 
will wipe out this stain upon their national honor, and 
vindicate the faith and the customs of their fathers. 

Since wars and rumors of wars have ceased, there has 
been some attempt to understand Indian character and 
habits, and they have been found to be no worse, at least, 
than those of other heathen nations, who were the inhabi- 
tants of classic Greece and Rome. 

The Jews held three yearly festivals, and several 
monthly festivals ; and one was in commemoration of the 
first fruits, and another at the in-gathering of harvest^ 
and another at the commencement of the year. 

Among the Iroquois tjiere were no particular cere- 
monies of purification ; but among some of the Western 
tribes, there was a custom which resembled that of the 
Jews, when they used scarlet, and cedar, and hyssop. 

Dogs were not sacrificed by the Jews ; but these were 
the only domestic animals the Indians had. At the death 

* Stone. 



THE COUNCIL FIRE. 63 

of his friend, Patroclus sacrificed two dogs of purest 
white, saying, " To the gods the purest things must be of- 
fered." The Gi-reeks and Romans each had a festival, 
which lasted nine days, the ceremonies of which were 
strikingly similar to those which attended the annual 
thank offerings which went up in the forest and on the 
prairie, by the lake and the streamlet in the American 
wilderness. But when we read that the Indian orna- 
mented himself with the husks of his favorite zea-maize, 
and went from house to house with a basket to gather of- 
ferings from the people, we call it heathenish and barbar- 
ous, while the story of Ceres, the goddess of corn, whose 
head was ornamented with sheafs, and who held in her 
hand a hoe and basket, is picturesque and beautiful ! 

To make dancing a part of a religious festival, is, among 
Indians, irreverent and grovelling. While we are taught 
to read, with pious emotion, how Miriam and her maidens 
went out with timbrels and dances to celebrate the over- 
throw of the Egyptians, and the women of all the cities 
of Israel came forth singing and dancing, and exclaimed, 
" Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his tens of 
thousands," and David, the man after God's own heart, 
" danced before the Lord." 

The sacred fire in the temple of Vesta was kept ever 
burning, and the Romans looked upon the extinguishing 
of the vestal flame as a prognostication of the destruction 
of their city. In all this there is not so much of poetry 
or beauty or purity as dwelt in the bosom of those who 
kindled the mysterious council fire in the heart of the 
forest, to burn for ever as a symbol of the love and patriot- 
ism which glowed in the bosoms of those who rallied 
around it, and called themselves the united people. 

The nymphs and naiads of the woods of Greece and 
Italy are the embellishments of every classic song, but 



64 THE IROQUOIS. 

they are no more beautiful than the guardian-spirits of 
every tree and leaf and flower with which the imagina- 
tion of the Indian peopled our own forest wilds. 

The Christian orator goes back to those dark days of 
ignorance and superstition for the allusions which are to 
give point and brilliancy to his metaphors, and the poems 
which have for their framework the grossest of all heathen 
mythology are still the text-books, for years, of Christian 
students, whose mission is to preach the Gospel to all the 
nations of the earth. 

We read of Indian women who were Keepers of the 
Faith, and revolt at their incantations and unintelligible 
mummeries, but our delicacy is thought in no danger from 
being initiated into the mysteries of the Priestess of Ap- 
poUo, the oracles of Delhi and the feasts of Eleusinia. 

The wealthy virgins of Greece and Rome were pre- 
sent with fruits in golden baskets at Bacchanalian revels, 
but they have never been held up as monsters, while our 
school-books have teemed with amours of gods and god- 
desses, such as find no place on the darkest pages of In- 
dian lore. 

We listen to the story of the woman in the moon, who 
is constantly employed in weaving a net, which a cat ravels 
whenever she sleeps, and that the world is to come to an 
end when the net is finished, and call it ridiculous. While 
the story of Penelope weaving her purple web by day to 
be unraveled by night, and thus prolong the absence of her 
husband Ulysses, who went to the siege of Troy, is a con- 
ception worthy of being expanded into a poem of a thou- 
sand lines, and translated into all languages. 

The Indian had no Cupids, or their representatives, to 
attend the afi'airs of the heart, but he had charms which 
obtained the love of any fair maiden whom he desired, and 
charms which secured him the love of his wife during his 



THE IROQUOIS NOT SAVAGES. 65 

long absence on the war-path and hunting excursions, and 
made every thing that he could do bright and beautiful in 
her eyes. And they had no Bacchus to preside at drunken 
revels, for they " did not tarry long at the wine, or look 
upon it when it was red." But they had spirits to pre- 
side at the pure fountain, where alone they went to slake 
their thirst. 

Human sacrifices were offered annually among the 
Aztecs, but never among the Iroquois. But even these 
were not entirely the result of Indian barbarity. " Hu- 
man sacrifices have been practised by many nations, not 
excepting the most polished nations of antiquity." " They 
were of frequent occurrence among the Greeks, as every 
school-boy knows, and in Egj^t. In Rome they were so 
common as to require to be interdicted by an express law, 
less than a hundred years before the Christian Era, — a law 
recorded in a very honest strain of exultation by Pliny, 
notwithstanding which, traces of the existence of the 
practice may be discerned to a much later period. " * 

Zurita was an eminent jurist from Spain, who resided 
nineteen years among the Aztecs, and is indignant that 
they should be called barbarians^ saying, " It is an epithet 
which could come from no one who had personal knowl- 
edge of the capacity of the people or their institutions, 
and which in some respects is quite as well merited by 
Europeans." 

If the Aztecs did not deserve the term barbarians^ 
surely I shall be thought just in denying the term savage 
to belong to the Iroquois ; and from their mythology, if 
nothing else, it is evident that they were destitute neither 
of genius nor of poetry. They were heathen and Pagans, 
but not savages, and before we boast that we have attained 

* Prescott. 



66 



THE IROQUOIS. 



unto perfection, let us remember that Spiritualists and 
Mormons have arisen in the nineteenth century, and mul- 
titudes have wended their way to Salt Lake City, who 
were trained in the churches of New England ! 




CHAPTEK IV. 

CUSTOMS AND INDIVIDUAL TRAITS OF CHARACTER. 

The more I read, and the better I understand Indian 
history, the more am I impressed with the injustice which 
has been done the Iroquois, not only in dispossessing them 
of their inheritance, but in the estimation which has been 
made of their character. They have been represented, as 
seen in the transition state, the most unfavorable possible 
for judging them correctly. 

In the chapter upon National Traits of Character, I 
have, in two or three instances, quoted Washington Irving, 
and might again allow his opinions to relieve my own 
from the charge of partiality. 

He says, in speaking of this same subject, that " the 
current opinion of Indian character is too apt to be formed 
from the miserable hordes which infest the frontiers, and 
hang on the skirts of settlements. These are too com- 
monly composed of degenerate beings, corrupted and en- 
feebled by the vices of society, without being benefited by 
its civilization. The proud independence which formed 
the main pillar of native virtue, has been shaken down, 
and the whole moral fabric lies in ruins. Their spirits 
are humiliated and debased by a sense of inferiority, and 
their native courage cowed and daunted by the superior 
knowledge and power of their enlightened neighbors. 
Society has advanced upon them like one of those wither- 



68 THE IROQUOIS. 

ing airs that will sometimes breed desolation over a whole 
region of fertility. It has enervated their strength, mul- 
tiplied their diseases, and superinduced upon their original 
barbarity the low vices of artificial life. It has given 
them a thousand superfluous wants, while it has diminished 
their means of mere existence. It has driven before it 
the animals of the chase, who fly from the sound of the 
axe and the smoke of the settlement, and seek refuge in 
the depths of remote forests and yet untrodden wilds. 
Thus do we often find the Indians on our frontiers to be 
mere wrecks and remnants of once powerful tribes, who 
have lingered in the vicinity of settlements, and sunk 
into precarious and vagabond existence. Poverty, repin- 
ing and hopeless poverty, a canker of the mind before un- 
known to them, corrodes their spirits, and blights every 
free and noble quality of their natures. They loiter like 
vagrants about the settlements, among spacious dwellings 
replete with elaborate comforts, which only render them 
sensible of the comparative wretchedness of their own 
condition. Luxury spreads its ample board before their 
eyes ; but they are excluded from the banquet. Plenty 
revels over the fields ; but they are starving in the midst 
of its abundance. The whole wilderness has blossomed 
into a garden ; but they feel as reptiles that infest it. 
How difi"erent was their state while undisputed lords of 
the soil ! Their wants were few, and the means of grati- 
fication within their reach. They saw every one around 
them sharing the same lot, enduring the same hardships, 
feeding on the same aliments, arrayed in the same rude 
garments. 

" No roof then rose that was not open to the home- 
less stranger ; no smoke curled among the trees, but he 
was welcome to sit down by its fire, and join the hunter 
in his repast. 



INDIAN BURIALS. 69 

" In discussing Indian character, writers have been too 
prone to indulge in vulgar prejudice and passionate exag- 
geration, instead of the candid temper of true philosophy. 
They have not sufficiently considered the peculiar circum- 
stances in which the Indians have been placed, and the 
peculiar principles under which they have been educated. 
No being acts more rigidly from rule than the Indian. 
His whole conduct is regulated according to some general 
maxims early implanted in his mind. The moral laws 
which govern him are few ; but he conforms to them all ; 
the white man abounds in laws of religion, morals, and 
manners, but how many does he violate ? 

'• In their intercourse with the Indians, the white people 
were continually trampling upon their religion, and their 
sacred rights. They were expected to look meekly on 
while the grave was robbed of its treasures, and the bones 
of their fathers were left to bleach upan the field. And 
when exasperated by the brutality of their conquerors, and 
driven to deeds of vengeance, there was very little appre- 
ciation of the motives which influenced them, and no at- 
tempt to palliate their cruelties." 

It was their custom to bury with the dead their best 
clothing, and the various implements they had been in the 
habit of using whilst living. If it was a warrior they 
were preparing for burial, they placed his tomahawk by 
his side, and his knife in his shield ; with the hunter, his 
bow and arrow, and implements for cooking his food ; with 
the women, their kettles, and cooking apparatus, and also 
food for all. Tobacco was deposited in every grave, for 
to smoke was an Indian's idea of felicity in the body and 
out of it, and in this there was not so much difference as 
one might wish, between them and gentlemen of paler 
hue. 

Among the Iroquois, and many other Indian nations, 



70 THE IROQUOIS. 

it was the custom to place the dead upon scaffolds built 
for this purpose, from tree to tree, or within a temporary 
inclosure, and underneath a fire was kept burning for 
several days. 

They had probably known instances of persons revi- 
vinf^ after they were supposed to be dead ; a ndthis led to 
the conclusion, that the spirit sometimes returned to ani- 
mate the body, after it had once fled. If there were no 
signs of life for ten days, the fire was extinguished, and 
the body left unmolested, till decomposition had begun to 
take place, when the remains were buried, or as was often 
the case, kept in the lodge for years. If they were 
obliged to desert a settlement where they had long re- 
sided, these skeletons were collected from all the families, 
and buried in one common grave, with the same ceremo- 
nies as when a single individual was interred. 

They did not suppose the spirit was instantaneously 
transferred from earth to heaven, but that it wandered 
in aerial regions for many moons. In later days they al- 
low only ten days for its flight. Their period of mourning 
continues only whilst the spirit is wandering ; as soon as 
they believe it has entered heaven, they commence re- 
joicing, saying, there is no longer cause for sorrow, be- 
cause it is now where happiness dwells for ever. Some- 
times a piteous wailing was kept up every night for a long 
time, but it was only their own bereavement that they be- 
wailed, as they had no fear about the fate of those who 
died. Not till they had heard of Purgatory from the 
Jesuits, or of endless woe from Protestants, did they look 
upon death with terror, or life as any thing but a blessing. 

They were sometimes in the habit of addressing the 
dead, as if they could hear. The following are the words 
of a mother, as she bent over her son, to look for the last 
time upon his beloved face. 



RELIGIOUS DUTIES. 71 

" My son, listen once more to the words of thy mother. 
Thou wast brought into life with her pains; thou wast 
nourished with her life. She has attempted to be faithful 
in raising thee up. When thou wert young she loved thee 
as her life. Thy presence has been a source of great joy 
to her. Upon thee she depended for support and comfort 
in her declining days. But thou hast outstripped her and 
gone before. Our great and wise Creator has ordered it 
thus. By His will I am left to taste more of the miseries 
of this world. Thy friends and relations have gathered 
about thy body, to look upon thee for the last time. They 
mourn as with one mind thy departure from among us. 
We too have but a few days more and our journey will be 
ended. We part now, and you are conveyed from our 
sight. But we shall soon meet again, and shall look upon 
each other. Then we shall part no more. Our Maker 
has called thee to his home. Thither will we follow." 

It has been said and written that the Indians were in 
the habit of murdering the aged to get them out of the 
way. There might have occurred, once in a century, an 
instance when, to relieve great suffering, an aged person 
was put to death. If they were on a long journey, or there 
was great scarcity, they might do this from pure kindness 
and benevolence, but not to save themselves trouble. 

After the adoption of the League of the Iroquois, and 
they dwelt together in villages, this was one of the duties 
enjoined by their religious teachers at their festivals — " It 
is the will of the Great Spirit that you reverence the aged, 
even though they be helpless as infants." And also 
"kindness to the orphan, and hospitality to all." 

" If you tie up the clothes of an orphan child, the 
Great Spirit will notice it and reward you for it." 

" To adopt orphans, and bring them up in virtuous 
ways, is pleasing to the Great Spirit." 



72 THE IROQUOIS. 

" If a stranger wanders about your abode, welcome him 
to your home, be hospitable towards him, speak to him 
with kind words, and forget not always to mention the 
Great Spirit." 

Upon the opening of their morning councils, a cere- 
mony of condolence was performed, and an appropriate 
speech delivered in memory of those who had died or been 
slain in battle since their last meeting. The ceremonies 
on these occasions were very solemn, and their speeches 
full of pathos and tenderness. The funerals of chiefsj 
warriors, and distinguished women were attended by the 
heads of tribes, and all their people ; and the respect in 
which they held their women is evinced by the honors 
they paid them when dead, being the same as those they 
bestowed upon chiefs and warriors. 

Their lamentations on being driven far away from the 
graves of their fathers have been the theme of all his- 
torians and travellers. 

Said an Indian chief, in his remonstrance against the 
treaty that was to remove the remnant of the Six Nations 
beyond the Mississippi, '' We cannot go to the west, and 
leave the graves of our fathers to the care of strangers. 
The unhallowed clods would lie heavily upon our bosoms 
in that distant land if we should do this." 

" Bury me by my grandmother," said a little boy of 
seven years of age, a few moments before his death. " She 
used to be kind to me." 

" Lay me in the churchyard by my mother," said a 
little orphan girl, who had been under the care of the 
mis.sionaries, when she learned she could not recover. 

" I shall be sorry if we must go far away to the west," 
said an aged woman, who had seen eighty winters, " for I 
had hoped to be laid by my mother in yonder church- 
yard." 



INDIAN VENGEANCE. 73 

" In ancient times they had a beautiful custom of 
capturing a bird, and freeing it over the grave on the 
evening of burial, to bear away the spirit to its heavenly 
rest." And their anxiety to obtain the bodies of their 
warriors slain in battle, and the impossibility of leaving 
the aged and helpless to die alone in the wilderness, was 
the result of a belief that the souls of those who received 
not the burial rites wandered about restless and unhappy. 

It may be easily imagined that a people who so loved 
their homes and revered their fathers' graves, would be- 
come fierce with indignation and rage, on seeing themselves 
treated as without human feeling and the sacred relics of 
the dead ploughed up and scattered as indifi'erently as the 
stones, or the bones of the moose and the deer of the forest. 
It was this feeling which often prompted them to acts of 
hostility, which those who experienced them ascribed to 
wanton cruelty and barbarity. An instance occurred in 
New England, where the grave of a Sachem's mother was 
robbed of the skins which had been placed there for her 
use, and the chieftain gathered his people together and ex- 
horted them to revenge. In him it was the promptings 
of filial piety, and the dictates of his religion. He thus 
speaks : 

" When last the glorious light of all the sky was un- 
derneath this globe, and birds grew silent, I began, as my 
custom is, to take repose. Before mine eyes were fast 
closed, methought I saw a vision, at which my spirit was 
much troubled, and trembling at that doleful sight the 
spirit cried aloud — ' Behold, my son, whom I have che- 
rished, see the breasts that gave thee suck, the hands that 
lapped thee warm, and fed thee oft. Canst thou forget 
to take revenge of those wild people who have defaced my 
monuments, disdaining our antiquities and honorable cus- 
toms ? See now the Sachem's grave lies like the common 
4 



74 THE IROQUOIS. 

people, defaced by an ignoble race. Thy mother doth 
complain, and implores thy aid against those thievish 
people, who have newly intruded upon our land. If this 
be suffered I shall not rest quiet in my everlasting habi- 
tation.' " 

A tribe has been known to visit the spot which had 
been, in former times, the burial place of their people, 
though long deserted, and spend hours in silent medita- 
tion ; and not till every hope had died in their bosoms, or 
the last drop of blood was shed, did they leave the sod 
which covered the dust of any of their kindred to the foot- 
steps of the stranger. 

To their hospitality I have often alluded, and there 
are many anecdotes to illustrate this trait in their charac- 
ter. The selfishness which they continually saw in those 
who were greedy of gain, was something which they could 
not comprehend. 

In many of their villages there was a Stranger's Home 
— a house for strangers, where they were placed, while the 
old men went about collecting skins for them to sleep 
upon, and food for them to eat, expecting no reward. 

They called it very rude for people to stare at them, 
as they passed in the streets, and said that they had as 
much curiosity as white people, but they did not gratify 
it by intruding upon them and examining them. They 
would sometimes hide behind trees, in order to look at 
strangers, but never stood openly and gazed at them. Their 
respectful attention to missionaries was often the result of 
their rules of politeness, as it is a part of the Indian's 
code, that every person should have a respectful hearing. 
Their councils are eminent for decorum, and no person is 
interrupted during a speech. Some Indians, after respect- 
fully listening to a missionary, thought they would relate 
to him some of their legends. But the good man could 




WIGWA^r. 




i;a[;k vaxoe. 



GOOD FOR EVIL. 75 

not restrain his indignation, and pronounced them foolish 
fables, while what he told them was sacred truth. The 
Indian was, in his turn, offended, and said, " We listen to 
your stories. Why do you not listen to ours ? You are 
not instructed in the common rules of civility ! " 

A hunter, in his wanderings for game, fell among the 
back settlements of Virginia, and on account of the incle- 
mency of the weather, sought refuge at the house of a 
planter, whom he met at his door. He was refused ad- 
mission. Being both hungry and thirsty, he asked for a 
bit of bread and a cup of cold water. But the answer to 
every appeal was, " No, you shall have nothing here. Get 
you go}ie^ you Indian dog^ 

Some months afterwards this same planter lost himself 
Id the woods, and after a weary day of wandering, came 
to an Indian cabin, into which he was welcomed. On in- 
quiring the way and distance to a settlement, and finding 
it was too far for him to think of going that night, he 
asked if he could remain. Very cordially the inmates 
replied that he was at liberty to stay, and all they had 
was at his service. They gave him food, they made a 
bright fire to cheer and warm him, and supplied him with 
clean deerskins for his couch, and promised to conduct 
him the next day on his journey. In the morning the 
Indian hunter and the planter set out together through 
the forest. When they came in sight of the white man's 
dwelling, the hunter, about to leave, turned to his com- 
panion, and said, " Do you not know me ? " The white 
man was struck with horror that he had been so long in 
the pow^r of one whom he had so inhumanly treated, and 
expected now to experience his revenge. But, on begin- 
ning to make excuses, the Indian interrupted him, saying, 
" When you see poor Indians fainting for a cup of cold 
water, don't say again. ' Get you gone, you Indian dog,' " 



76 THE IROQUOIS. 

and turned back to his hunting grounds. Which best de- 
served the appellation, Christian ? and to which will it be 
most likely to be said, " Inasmuch as ye have done it unto 
the least of these, ye have done it unto me ? " 

CANNASATEGO 

Was a chief of the Onondaga nation. Of him Dr. Frank- 
lin tells the following story : — Conrad Meyses, an inter- 
preter, who had been naturalized among the Indians, and 
could speak several of their dialects, was passing through 
the country on a governmental mission, and stopped at the 
house of Cannasatego, by whom he was warmly welcomed. 
Clean furs were spread for him to sit upon, and venison 
and succotash placed before him to eat. When he was re- 
freshed, and had lighted his pipe, the chief conversed with 
him cheerfully, asking him concerning his health and pros- 
perity since they had met, and expressing undiminished 
friendship for his old acquaintances, who were known to 
both, till the ordinary topics were exhausted, when he re- 
vived conversation by asking concerning the customs of 
white people, which he could not understand. 

'• Conrad," said he " you have lived long among our 
white neighbors, and know their customs. I have been 
sometimes at Albany, and have observed that, once in 
seven days they shut up their shops, and assemble in the 
great house; tell me what it is for? — what do they do 
there?" 

" They meet there," said Conrad, " to hear and learn 
good things." 

" I do not doubt they tell you so," said the Indian. 
" They have often told me the same ; but I doubt the 
truth of it ; and I will tell you the reason. I went the 
other day to Albany to sell my skins, and buy powder, 



HANS HANSON. 7t 

knives, blankets, &c. I usually trade with Hans Hanson, 
but I thought this time I would try some other merchant. 
I went first to Hans, however, and asked him how much 
he would give for beaver. He said he could not give more 
than four shillings a pound, but that he could not talk 
about it then, as it was the day they shut their shops, and 
went to meeting to hear about good things. I thought, 
as I could not do any business, I might as well go to the 
meeting too. So we went together. There stood up a 
man in black, who began talking very angrily. I could 
not understand what he said ; but as he looked very much 
at me and Hans, I thought he was angry at seeing me 
there. So I went out and sat by the door till the meet- 
ing broke up. I thought, too, he said something about 
beaver, and that this might be the subject of their meet- 
ing. When they came out, I asked Hans if he had not 
concluded to give more than four shillings a pound ? " No," 
said he, " I cannot give so much ; I cannot give more 
than three shillings and sixpence." I then spoke to several 
other dealers, and they all sang the same song — three and 
sixpence — three ayid sixpence ! This made it clear to me 
that the purpose of the meeting was not to learn good 
things, but to consult how to cheat Indians, in the price 
of beaver. Consider but a little Conrad, and you will see 
that if they met so often to learn good things, they 
would certainly have learned some before this time. But 
they are still ignorant. If a white man, in travelling 
through our country, enters one of our cabins, we all 
treat him as I do you ; we dry him if he is wet ; we warm 
him if he is cold, and give him meat and drink if he is 
hungry and thirsty ; we spread soft furs for him to sleep 
upoU) and ask nothing in return. But if I go into a 
white man's house at Albany, and ask for food and drink, 
they say, " Get out, you Indian dog." You see they have 



^-g THE IROQUOIS. 

not yet learned those little good things which we need no 
meetings to be instructed in, because our mothers taught 
them to us when we were children ; and therefore it is 
impossible their meetings should be for any such purpose, 
as they say, or have any such effect ; they are only to con- 
trive tlie cheating of Indians in the price of beaver ! 

In shrewdness and quickness of perception, the In- 
dian was not at all deficient, and there was a great deal 
of quiet humor lurking in their natures. 

An officer presented a Chief with a medal, on one side 
of which President Washington was represented as armed 
with a sworcl^ and on the other, the Indian was burying 
the hatchet. The Chief saw at once the idea conveyed, 
and sarcastically asked, "Why does not the President 
also bury his sword? " 

A Swedish minister having assembled several Chiefs, 
related to them the principal facts on which the Christian 
religion is founded — the eating of the apple — the coming 
of Christ to make an atonement — his miracles and suffer- 
ings. When he had finished, an Indian orator stood up 
to thank him : " What you have told us," said he, " is all 
very good. It is indeed bad to eat apples. It is better 
to make them all into cider. We are much obliged by 
your kindness in coming so far to tell us these things you 
have heard from your mothers." 

Whatever may be said of other nations, the Iroquois 
certainly considered it a great stain upon their national 
escutcheon, to violate a treaty, and if any nation belong- 
ing to their confederacy was guilty of this breach of honor, 
it was severely punished. The Delawares were a subju- 
gated nation, and not at liberty to make war without the 
knowledge and approbation of the confederacy. A treaty 
had been made with a western nation, and the Delawares 
invaded their territory, with a full knowledge that they 



INDIAN HONESTY. 79 

were at peace with, and under the protection of the Iro- 
quois. For this they were reprimanded, and forbidden in 
future to go to war at all, and deprived of all civil author- 
ity, — in their phraseology, they made them women ! This 
was a great degradation, as war alone could furnish them 
an opportunity to gain distinction, and distinction alone 
could gain them a position of honor in the administration 
of the government. They had been a very brave and 
warlike nation, but never afterwards recovered from this 
humiliation. 

There is no instance of the Six Nations having violated 
a treaty that was legally made, and which they perfectly 
understood. They were faithful to their British allies, 
and " poured out their blood like waters," and in return 
were deserted and left to the mercy of their enemies. 
Not till they saw the faithlessness of those whom they 
had trusted and relied upon, did they turn against them. 

Falsehood and evasion were no part of the original 
character of Indians of any name, and an instance of theft 
was seldom known among them. Bars and bolts are still 
strangers in their settlements, and among the unchristian- 
ized ; the custom still prevails of placing the mortar pestle 
upon the threshold when the family are all absent, and 
the famous locks that received the prize at the World's 
Fair could not more effectually kee]^ all intruders away^ 
than this simple signal. No Indian thought of entering 
a cabin where the mortar pestle stood sentinel ! 

The food of the Indian consisted in the flesh of ani- 
mals which were killed in the chase, and the few vege- 
tables they cultivated, with corn or maize, which was their 
staple article; and of this they have three kinds. The 
white, red, and white-flint. If you ride through an In- 
dian settlement, you will see hundreds of bushels of corn 
hanging by the braided husks upon poles to dry. When 



30 THE IROQUOIS. 

fit for use it is pounded in large stone or wooden mortars, 
and usually by two women at a time. The operation is 
very similar in appearance to the churning in the old-fash- 
ioned dash-churn in New England. When the meal is 
sufficiently tine to pass through a coarse sieve, it is made 
into small loaves of unleavened hread^ and boiled in large 
kettles, containing a dozen loaves at a time. It is very 
palatable and healthy. Hominy was also a favorite dish 
with the Indians, and is now so common every where that 
it needs no description. 

From the Indian, too, are obtained the knowledge of 
tobacco, and in the use of this, " all nations of every kin- 
dred, tongue, and people," have shown their appreciation 
of Indian taste and refinement. It is strange that civil- 
ized people should have so generally adopted their most 
filthy and uncivilized habit ! 

Maple sugar must have been in use among them for 
centuries, " as is proved by their festival to give thanks 
to the maple." Beans and squashes grew wild all over 
America, and were rendered fruitful by cultivation among 
the Iroquois. In the valley of the Genesee, the first 
white people who came, of whom we have any definite 
knowledge, found large orchards, and in some places peach 
trees, which were of Indian cultivation. 

They made a tea of the fine green boughs of the hem- 
lock steeped in water, which I have drank when among 
them in preference to any other. 

Their cooking utensils were very few, and housewifery 
occupied very little of the Indian matron's time. She 
tilled tlie soil, and from the simple manner of tilling it, 
her labor was very light. 

The cradle or baby-frame, the birch canoe, and the 
moccasin were the prettiest articles of Indian manufacture, 
though since their intercourse with white people they have 



INDIAN BEAUTY. 81 

added an infinite variety of boxes, bags, and baskets, 
which they embroider both richly and tastefully. Indeed 
I know not if the women of any people can excel them 
in fancy work. Where any part of their costume is 
wrought, the devices are always neat, and exhibit great 
skill in the blending of colors. A full Indian dress is 
very rich and costly, being mostly of the finest broadcloth, 
embroidered with beads around the borders, and with or- 
naments of silver around the neck and down the front. 
Originally they were clothed entirely in the skins of ani- 
mals, but the new materials are made exactly in the old 
fashion. The kilt was very much like that worn by the 
Highlander, and is richly embroidered. The leggin was 
fastened above the knee, and fell loosely to the top of the 
moccasin, being also deeply embroidered. 

There were six dances, at which it was necessary to 
wear a peculiar costume. The head-dress of the warriors 
was adorned with plumes, and his girdle, gay with many 
colors, was thrown gracefully over the left shoulder, tied 
under the right arm at the waist, and hung in fringes to 
the knee. 

The style of beauty of the Indian women is so different 
from that of the Roman and Grecian, Circassian and 
Saxon, that at first one would scarcely pronounce any of 
them beautiful. But, as a people, I am inclined to think 
them better looking than the Saxon, though there are 
none among them so beautiful as some among us. 

Miss Bremer describes one whom she met on the 
banks of the Mississippi, who might be the type of as 
large a class among Indian women, as a city belle is, in 
the throng in which she moves. She says of her — *• She 
was so brilliant, and of such unusual beauty, that she 
literally seemed to light up the whole room as she entered. 
Her shoulders were broad and round, and her carriage 
4* 



82 THE IROQUOIS. 

drooping, as is usual with Indian women, who are early 
accustomed to carry burdens on their backs; but the 
beauty of the countenance was so extraordinary, that I 
cannot but think that if such a face were to be seen in 
one of the drawing-rooms of the fashionable world, it 
would tliere be regarded as the type of a beauty hitherto 
unknown. It was the wild beauty of the forest, at the 
same time melancholy and splendid. The bashful glow 
in those large, magnificent eyes, shaded by unusually long, 
dark eye-lashes, cannot be described, nOr yet the glance, 
nor the splendid light of the smile, which at times lit up 
the countenance like a flash, showing the loveliest white 
teeth. She was quite young, and had been married two 
years to a brave young warrior, who, I was told, was so 
fond of her, that he would not allow her to carry burdens, 
but always got a horse for her when she went to the town. 
Her name was Feather Cloud." 

There is not the variety among Indian beauties that 
exists among white people. We have all shades, from the 
lightest blonde to the darkest brunette ; but the shade is 
nearly the same upon every forest maiden's face. The 
hair is raven black, the cheeks are full, and the eye like 
jet. But there is still opportunity for Nature to show 
her skill ; though there may be few so splendidly beautiful 
as Feather Cloud, there are few who may not be called 
comely ; and I have seen many who might vie with the 
blondes and brunettes of any drawing-room. 



CHAPTER V. 

LOVE, MUSIC. AND POETRY. 

It has been the conclusion of historians generally, and of 
travellers and students almost universally, that the North 
American Indians were entirely destitute of la belle passion 
— that " of the marvellous passion which originates in a 
higher development of the powers of the human heart, and 
is founded upon a cultivation of the affections between 
the sexes, they were entirely ignorant." I shall not 
attempt to refute learned historians or philosophers, neither 
will I assert a different opinion. Yet there are many 
among the wise and thinking who say this cannot be. 

In reading very extensively, and conversing with those 
who have lived many years a forest life, I have learned 
many things which might be cited to prove a more pleasant 
theory, but they may possibly be only exceptions to tlie 
rule^ and I shall therefore merely relate the facts, leaving 
my readers to theorize for themselves. 

In the contents of this chapter I have not confined 
myself to the Iroquois, but roamed among all the northern 
nations, and have by no means appropriated all that has 
been written and said on the subject. 

It is the impression among all people this side of the 
Mediterranean, that the women of Turkey all live in 
harems ; but our Minister, who has just returned from a 



g^ XUE IROQUOIS. 

four years' sojourn in Constantinople, says he has never 
found in that city a respectable Turk ivho had 7nore than 
one ivife ! This is the law of Glod, and to disobey it wars 
against nature. Among the Indians, polygamy was some- 
ti°mcs practised, but was by no means common, and was 
ever disgraceful. It is insisted, too, by their aged people, 
that before they were corrupted by their conquerors, there 
was scarcely any thing among them which Christian prin- 
ciple would condemn as vice. 

To excel in oratory certainly requires a very superior 
development, and in this no people excelled the Iroquois. 
Love, in all its purity, dwells very little among even 
Christian people, and something far worse than polygamy 
prevails in the most cultivated circles among civilized 
nations. 

There is not so much of nature's nobility among the 
peasantry of Europe as among the forest Indians ; yet 
their capability of love and the domestic affections is 
not disputed, and it is this alone which renders life 
endurable ; were it not for this they would be desperadoes 
whom all the fetters of despotism could not trammel or 
subdue. But they are dwellers in one place, whilst the 
Indian is a rover, quite independent of home and domestic 
comfort. 

The manner in which marriages were contracted, made 
it impossible that there should be courtships or long ro- 
mantic love affairs among the children of the wilderness, 
and their habits of life made social intercourse almost im- 
possible. Young men and maidens, had very little op- 
portunity to become acquainted, and if there sprang up in 
their bosoms a mutual attachment, it could not be culti- 
vated without the consent of the friends of both parties, 
and so accustomed were they to obedience, that the 
thought of defying those who had authority over them-was 



MATRIMONIAL NEGOTIATIONS. 85 

seldom or never indulged. I have smiled, as I have heard 
an Indian youth speak of the opportunities he had enjoyed 
for being married, in the same way as young women make 
this boast among us. And this may be done without com- 
promising the delicacy of those alluded to, as it is not 
supposed that the parties most concerned know any thing 
of the matter. 

The grandmothers, if living, if not the mothers, and 
when there are no mothers, the aunts, or nearest relatives, 
make the propositions. If it is considered desirable that 
a son, or daughter, marry the son or daughter in a neigh- 
boring lodge, a present of some kind is left at the door in 
a basket. This signifies to all within that a marriage ne- 
gotiation is contemplated. If it is agreeable, the basket 
is brought in, and its contents being accepted, it is 
returned with a present which indicates that the way is 
open to further negotiation. If the proposal is rejected, 
the basket is left standing without the door, and she who 
brought it comes after there has been time for deliberation 
and takes it home. This is a decided refusal. If it is re- 
turned replenished, she sends another present of a differ- 
ent kind, and soon afterwards enters herself and consults 
with the matrons of the family with whom she seeks an 
alliance, and if all are pleased that it should take place, 
each family informs the son and daughter, for the first 
time, of the pending negotiation. Then, if there is no ob- 
jection, presents are again exchanged, and there is 
another meeting of the matrons at which the children are 
present. Very serious advice is given them concerning 
their deportment, and the duties of husbands and wiveS) 
and then the seat is prepared in the home of the bride 
and bridegroom, which is in future to be exclusively 
theirs, and in the presence of all they repair to it, and are 
henceforth husband and wife. Their wedding tour is a 



35 THE IROQUOIS. 

hunting excursion, or rather this was the custom of the 
olden time ; now there is usually a feast, and there is also 
an acre of land set apart by the bride's friends as her 
marriage portion. The father takes no interest in the 
matter, and is merely imformed of the marriage when it is 
consummated. The children are of the tribe of the 
mother, as are the children's children to the latest genera- 
tion, and they are also of the same nation. If the mother 
is a Cayuga, the children are Cayugas ; and if a Mohawk, 
the children are Mohawks. If the marriage proves un- 
happy, the parties are allowed to separate, and each is at 
liberty to marry again. But the mother has the sole 
right to the disposal of the children. She keeps them all 
if she chooses, and to their father they are ever mere 
strangers. 

In regard to property, too, the wife retains whatever 
belonged to her before marriage, distinct from her husband, 
and can dispose of it as she pleases without his consent, 
and if she separates from him, takes it with her, and at 
her death, either before or after separation, her children 
inherit all she possessed. 

A white man was once remonstrating with an Indian 
upon allowing the matrimonial bond to be so lightly 
broken, when the Indian replied : " You marry squaw, 
she know you always keep her, so she scold, scold, scold, 
and not cook your venison. I marry squaw, and she know 
I leave her if she not good. So she not scold, but cook 
my venison, and always pleasant, we live long together." 

There were few penalties for any species of crime. To 
call a thing had was usually sufficient in Indian communi- 
ties to deter from all that they considered evil. That 
which we denounce as criminal, was not called so by 
them. 

The staid and burly Englishman, never mingled with 



SOCIAL AFFECTIONS. 87 

the Indians in a way to gain their confidence or learn 
their true character. Their way of life was repulsive to 
him, but the Frenchman could become a hunter and roam 
for years in the forests, or live in a wigwam, and conform 
in all things to Indian customs with the same nonchalance 
as he could walk upon tapestry and recline upon divans. 
This is the reason we usually have so much more pleasing 
pictures of Indian life from French than English traders. 
Englishmen would not be very likely to become the co7i- 
fidants of hunters or warriors, or to have an opportunity 
to listen to the love songs of Indian maidens. 

It is certainly wonderful that a people who knew 
nothing of physiology, and had no learned treatises upon 
physical degeneracy, should have so thoroughly provided 
against deterioration by laws concerning intermarriage. 
Their wigwams were built for the convenience of several 
families. A lodge was constructed, and when it became 
necessary, additions were made till it became one or two 
hundred feet in length, and the abode of a little multitude, 
but all who occupied it were within the degrees of con- 
sanguinity which forbade marriage — they were brothers 
and sisters, and treated each other as such. But dis- 
puting and wrangling form no part of the nurseries of an 
Indian cabin. It is quite amazing how many will live to- 
gether in harmony and love. 

But I have heard of several instances of suicide for 
disappointed affection which would compare well in reck- 
lessness and desperation with any recorded in French or 
Italian novels. It sometimes happened that the husband 
or wife whom the friends chose, proved so unsuitable that 
the nuptial tie was broken almost as soon as formed. And 
when this happened I believe the parties were left the 
second time to select for themselves. It sometimes, too, 
became impossible for the friends to force upon young 



85 THE IE.OQU0IS. 

people a yoke which they felt they could never bear. And 
often, as among the aristocratic circles of court society, it 
was worn a little while and then thrown off by one, leaving 
the other disconsolate and wretched. It, of course, most 
frequently happens that the wife is the deserted one. 

Mrs. Hemans has immortalized the heart-broken one 
who perished in the Falls of St. Anthony some years ago, 
as related by a missionary. Her name was Ampatd Sapa. 

'• The husband was a successful hunter, and they lived 
happily together many years, and had two children, who 
played around their fire, and whom they were glad to call 
their children. Many families by degrees settled around 
them, and built wigwams near theirs. Wishing to become 
more closely connected with them, they represented to the 
hunter that he ought to have several wives, as by that 
means he would become of more importance, and might 
before long be elected chief of the tribe." 

He was well pleased with this counsel, and privately 
took a new wife ; but, in order to bring her into his wig- 
wam without displeasing his first wife, the mother of his 
children, he said to her : 

" Thou knowest that I can never love any other 
woman as tenderly as I love thee : but I have seen that 
the labor of taking care of me and the children ia too 
great for thee, and I have therefore determined to take 
another wife, who shall be thy servant ; but thou shalt be 
the principal one in the dwelling." 

The wife was very much distressed when she heard 
these words. She prayed him to reflect on their former 
affection — their happiness during many years — their chil- 
dren. She besought him not to bring this second wife 
into their dwellincr. 

c 

In vain. The next evening the husband brought the 
new wife into his wigwam. 



AM3J-T:: 



MBg 



d TTiTfd h OBt iDtB like ispcr m 1^ 
1* It TTT^ * ---- Sii^ 



Her 




rr h^ rTsszjsaf'i inUe^rr. 



-i iE -die 






r„.r to tl;*! -w-fisrriig of tl,.* irss 






ziri'L tif sfcir-ise k lif di^." 



90 THE IROQUOIS. 

The words are another's, but the sentiment is the 
same as uttered by the deserted one, and the same as 
uttered by a deserted one on the banks of Lake Erie. 
'• I cannot live longer," said she, and swallowed the 
poisoned draught her own hands had mixed. 

Not many specimens of Indian poetry have been pre- 
served, yet they were ever singing. 

They had a great variety of tunes, and are said to 
have had a good perception of time. They had not the 
reo-ular intervals of tones and semitones, but a thousand 
different sounds recurring at as many irregular intervals. 
The music and the words of their songs were often im- 
promjjtu, but the war-songs were in regular verses, and 
sung as they danced. 

The voice of the Indian is very rich and capable of 
high cultivation ; and as they become Christianized, this 
part of public worship is their great delight. During the 
August of 1790 an Italian nobleman, Count Adriana, 
visited Mr. Kirkland, at his mission station in Oneida, 
and was particularly charmed with the musical powers of 
the Indians, saying — " The melody of their music, and 
the softness and richness of their voices, he thought were 
equal to any he ever heard in Italy ! " 

During the French war a party of Indians came from 
the far north-west to visit Quebec. On their way they 
stopped at the Moravian Mission, on the banks of Lake 
Superior, and there a young Algonquin fell in love with a 
Chippewa maiden, who as ardently returned his passion. 
As she sailed away in her light canoe she uttered her love 
and sadness in the following wild strain : — 

" I shall go with you my sweet heart, my Algonquin." 
"Alas," I replied, "my native country is far, far away — my sweet 
heart, my Algonquin. 



POETIC SENTIMENT OF THE INDIANS. 91 

When I looked back again, where we parted, he was still look- 
ing after me, my sweet heart, my Algonquin, 

He was still standing on a fallen tree, that had fallen in the 
water, my sweet heart, my Algonquin. 

Alas, when I think of him, when I think of him, it is when I 
think of him — my Algonquin. 

The following is another strain almost as simple, hut 
less wild and sad : — 

" I looked across the water, 
I bent o'er it and listened, 
I thought it was my lover, 
My true love's paddle glistened. 
Joyous thus his light canoe, would the silver ripples wake, 
But no, it is the loon alone, the loon upon the lake ; 
Ah me ! it is the loon alone, the loon upon the lake. 

" I see the fallen maple, 

Where he stood his red scarf waving, 
Though waters nearly bury 

Boughs they then were merely laving, 
I heard his last farewell, as it echoed from the lake, 
But no, it is the loon alone, the loon upon the lake ; 
Ah me ! it is the loon alone, the loon upon the lake." 

This is a literal translation, hut there is the true 
spirit of the love-lorn maiden^ and a high development of 
the poetic sentiment. There has heen only now and then 
a wanderer among the forests, who could appreciate or 
discern the beautiful, though there have been poems, and 
novels in abundance concerning wild forest life, by those 
who wrote the wanderings of their imagination and their 
fancy. The bright picture has been too bright, and the 
dark picture too dark. 

In the war songs of the Indian, there is never allusion 
to blood and carnage ; and revenge is not made prominent 
among the natives for pursuing the enemy. Bold and 



92 THE IROQUOIS. 

daring deeds are incited as worthy of imitation, and forti- 
tude and heroism are exalted as the loftiest virtues. 
They had characteristics, generated by their peculiar life, 
but there is nothing about them to prevent their becom- 
ing like unto others. White men have lived among them 
and learned to prefer the hunter's life. Indians have 
learned to prefer the habits of civilization, and shown 
themselves capable of education and refinement equal to 
any attained by any nation. 

When children, they have the same joyous nature, the 
same quick perceptions, and exhibit the same varieties of 
character. 

" As the twig is bent, the tree is inclined," 

is as true of them as of pale-faced children. 

The following lines are a translation of a song heard 
among a troop of Chippewa children as they were playing 
at twilight around their dwellings, and the air was filled 
with myriads of fire-flies, which they were trying to catch. 
I have seen few prettier things among the children's songs 
of any people. 

" Fire-fly, fire-fly, bright little thing, 
Light me to bed, and my song I will sing ; 
Give me your light, as you fly o'er my head, 
That I may merrily go to my bed ; 
Give me your light o'er the grass as you creep, 
That I may joyfully go to my sleep ; 
Come little fire-fly — Come little beast — 
Come ! and I'll make you to-morrow a feast. 
Come, little candle, that flies as I sing, 
Bright little fairy bug, — night's little king; 
Come, and I'll dance as you guide me along, 
Come, and I'll pay you my bug with a song." j 

In their legends there is often allusion to falling in 



A LOVE LEGEND. 93 

love^ in the way the same event takes place among other 
people. The following is obtained from a very authentic 
source, and certainly appears very natural : — 

A LOVE LEGEND. 

Iroqiiois. 

Over a deep gulf, not far from Canandaigua Lake, 
hangs a wild and fearful precipice, which has been known 
to the Indian as far back as tradition goes, by the name 
of " Lover's Leap," for here two lovers preferred to die 
together rather than live apart. 

When the Senecas and Algonquins were at war, a 
young Algonquin Chief was taken prisoner, and con- 
demned to die. While in the *' cabin of death," to wait 
his doom, the youthful and beautiful daughter of the 
Sachem brought him food. He too was rich in all those 
manly gifts which an Indian maiden is taught to admire 
in warrior and in chieftain, and though her father's 
enemy, she loved him, and resolved to save his life. 

Ere the morning watch, when the gray dawn was just 
stealing from behind the hill-tops, she stole with stealthy 
tread to the side of the noble captive, and cutting the 
thongs which bound him, bade him in breathless accents 
to follow her. 

The sentinel, weary with his night-watchings, had 
fallen asleep, but ere they had descended the winding 
pathway which led to the lake on whose gentle bosom 
they had hoped to rest, the shrill war-whoop fell on their 
ears and they knew they were pursued. Like the fawn or 
the squirrel they bounded through the thick woods and 
down the steeps to the border of the lake, where the light 
canoe awaited them, and plied the dashing paddles with 
the desperate energy of those who row for life. But it 



94 THE IROQUOIS. 

was in vain ; nearer came the terrific yell and then the 
splashing of a dozen oars, and as many savage warriors 
swiftly gliding over the waters in full view of the 
fugitives. 

They reached the shore and fled through a woody 
pathway over the hills ; but, seeiDg the brave youth by 
her side was fainting from his still bleeding wounds, the 
maiden turned quickly and came to a table-crested rock 
that overlooked the gulf. There, hand in hand, they 
paused, and calmly gazed on the group below, who in- 
stantly filled the air with shrieks, as they perceived the 
pair, and knew them to be within their reach. The damsel 
knew her father by his eagle plume, and when he saw his 
victim he bent his bow and pointed the poisoned arrow at 
his heart ; but ere the string was snapped, Wun-nut-hay, 
the beautiful, stood between her lover and the stern old 
man, and falling at the feet of the warrior begged him to 
spare the youth ; " nay," said she, " we will plunge to- 
gether over the precipice rather than that one shall die 
and the other live." 

But rage now blinded him to her tears and shut his 
ears to her entreaties; he commanded his followers to 
seize the lad, and warrior after warrior bounded up the 
cliffs in obedience to his command, but at the moment 
they put forth their hands to grasp the foe, the lovers, 
locked in firm embrace, flung themselves 

" From the steep rock and perislied !" 

Then the father's breast was rent, but too late to save 
his child. At the bottom of the gulf, one hundred and fifty 
feet from where he stood, lay the mangled bodies of the 
two, and there he commanded that they should be buried. 
Two hollows like sunken graves are to this day pointed out 
as the " burial place of the lovers." It is a wild, romantic 



INDIAN NOBLENESS. 95 

haunt, but quiet now, save where a brook slowly murmurs 
along as if to chant a requiem for the dead. 

Col. McKennej, who was for seventeen years at the 
head of the Indian department at "Washington, and who 
has mingled with Indians of every nation and tribe, in the 
wildest and the most civilized state, does not hesitate to eon- 
firm them in the assertion always to be heard among them- 
selves, that they are the j^eojyle. He is as genuine a Saxon 
as myself, but is willing to allow the red children the pre- 
ference in all that is truly noble and good. Not among 
any people whose history I have read, have I found in- 
stances of stronger attachment, whether of love, of con- 
jugal or parental afi"ection, than he relates ; and the most 
strong heart would melt in listening to the touching inci- 
dents of which his memory is so full ; and that they are 
full of pathos and awake to the tenderest sympathy, cannot 
now be ascribed to the youthful enthusiasm of the narra- 
tor, or his unripe judgment. 

His head is now hoary with the frosts of many winters, 
and he must be considered good authority ; and he says 
no people on the wide earth have hearts so warm and true 
as the genuine forest Indian. 

In Jefferson's answers to the theories of Count de 
Buffon, concerning the deteriorating influence of American 
climate and soil upon animals and vegetables, he says 
there is no difference between the Indian and European, 
except what is produced by customs and modes of living. 
The Indian was taught to consider war as the noblest of 
pursuits. " Every thing he sees and hears tends to inspire 
him with an ardent desire for military fame. If a young 
man were to discover a fondness for women before he has 
been to war, he would become the contempt of the men, 
and the scorn and ridicule of the women. Or if he were 
to offer violence to a captive for selfish gratification, he 



96 THE IROQUOIS. 

would incur indelible disgrace. Their frigidity is the ef- 
fect of manners, and not a defect of nature. Besides, a 
celebrated warrior is oftener courted by the females, than 
he has the occasion to court ; and this is a point of honor 
which the men aim at. Instances similar to that of Ruth 
and Boaz are not uncommon among them. For though 
the women are modest and diffident, and so bashful that 
they seldom lift up their eyes, and scarce ever look a 
man full in the face, yet customs and manners reconcile 
them to modes of acting which, judged of by Europeans, 
would be deemed inconsistent with the rules of female de- 
corum and propriety." 

" When Boaz had eaten and drank, and his heart was 
merry, he went to lie down at the end of a heap of corn, 
and Ruth came softly, and uncovered his feet, and laid her 
down." 

" Instances like this," continues the same author, " are 
not uncommon among them. I once saw a young widow? 
whose husband, a warrior, had died about eight days be- 
fore, hastening to finish her grief, tearing her hair and 
beating her breast, drinking spirits to make the tears flow, 
that she might grieve much in a short space of time, and 
be married that evening to another young warrior. Old 
men, whose wives are also advanced in years, often marry 
young women, though polygamy is not common among 
them. Neither do they seem to be deficient in natural af- 
fection. I have seen both fathers and mothers in the 
deepest affliction when their children have been danger- 
ously ill. It is also said they are averse to society and 
social life. Can any thing be more inapplicable than this 
to a people who always live in towns or clans ? Or can 
they be said to have no ' republic,' who conduct all their 
affairs in national councils, who pride themselves in na- 
tional character, who consider an insult or injury done to 



INSTANCES OF CIVILIZATION. 97 

an individual, as done to the whole, and resent it accord- 
ingly?" 

I have quoted this author at some length, as he must 
be considered good authority, and says he writes what he 
knows. And as this is one of the great points of dispute 
concerning Indians, between philosophers and historians 
of the old world and the new, and is also a very interest- 
ing one, I have thought it worthy much pains in adducing 
opinions. The Iroquois were not justly called a wild or 
barbarous people at alL They were not all alike. Among 
their lodges there were degrees of order and neatness, the 
same as among us. Those who visit the rude log cabins 
of white settlers in the wilderness far away from the com- 
forts and luxuries of cultivated circles, may have all their 
sensibilities shocked quite as much as our forefathers had 
in the wigwam. They had rules of etiquette, and were 
truly formalists in the management of public and social 
matters. Not to say I thank you, after partaking of a 
meal in a friend's or stranger's house, was considered quite 
an insult, and they did not consider it polite to enter a 
village without uttering some note of announcement. 
" Much less ought they to be characterized as a people of 
no vivacity, and who are excited to action or motion only 
by the call of hunger and thirst. Their dances, in which 
they so much delight, and which to an European would be 
the severest exercise, fully contradict this. 

All the Indians of North America were in the habit 
of using various symbols to represent ideas, and by some 
this was carried so far as to deserve the name of picture 
writing. If a hunter was alone in the forest, wherever he 
encamped he would mark upon the smooth bark of a tree 
the device of his tribe, a bear, or heron, or deer, whichever 
it might be ; the shape of the moon at the time, to indicate 
the day of the month ; and so nice were their obseryations, 
5 



98 THE IROQUOIS. 

that they drew the quarters, half and full moon with won- 
derful exactness; an arrow pointing in the direction he 
was going ; straight lines to denote the number of days he 
had been from home, and the forms of the various animals 
he had killed in the chase. 

If there was a large party, the number of persons was 
shown by the faces or figures being drawn ; if it was a war 
party, a knife drawn across the throat designated how 
many had been killed. 

They were in the habit of marking their tribal device, 
very generally denominated totem, over the doors of their 
cabins, and sometimes upon their bodies. Among the west- 
ern nations and the Indians of New England, scrolls of 
bark were used, and their symbols were very much like 
those in use among eastern nations before the invention 
of letters. The events of a war expedition have been 
found so definitely pictured that they could be easily un- 
derstood by those who originally knew nothing of the 
matter ; and parties of travellers have found descriptions 
of their movements, upon pieces of bark fastened to a pole 
and set up in the forest, so that it was easily recognized 
when read by one acquainted with their signs. 

The following is a love song written in this way, and 
curious only as showing the amount they could communi- 
cate and the sentiments they could express by picture 
writing : 

s 

" It is my form and person that makes me great. 
Hear the voice of my song — it is my voice ; 
I shield myself with secret coverings. 
All your thoughts are known to me ; blush ! 
I could draw you hence were you on a distant island ; 
Though you were in another hemisphere ; 
I speak to your naked heart !" 



CHARACTERISTIC SONGS. 99 

The following seems to be an imaginary address of the 
frogs to the snow flakes and ice in spring, when they arc 
weary of being imprisoned, and long to burst their bonds, 
and commence their rejoicings, for the return of the warm 
sun and the sweet breath of spring. 

They are interesting only as specimens of Indian im- 
agination and poetry : 

SOXO OF THE OKOGISS, OR FROGS, IN SPRING. 

See how the white spirit presses — 
Presses us — presses us, heavj' and long ; 
Presses us down to the frost- bitten earth ; 
Alas! ye are heavy, ye spirits so white ; 
Alas ! you are cold — you are cold, you are cold. 
Ah ! cease shining spirits that fell from the skies ; 
Ah ! cease to crush us and keep us in dread ; 
Ah! when will ye vanish and Seegwin return? 

HAWK CUANT OF THE SAGINAWS. 

The hawks turn their heads nimbly around ; 

They turn to look back on their flight ; 

The spirits of svmplace have whispered the words. 

They fly with their messages swift ; 

They look as they fearfully go ; 

They look to the farthermost end of the world, 

Their eyes glancing bright and their beaks boding harm. 

Their war songs, as translated, do not convey to us any 
just idea of what they were to the Indian. It is true of 
every thing national of whatever people, that those alone 
can understand its true import who have the same associa- 
tions ; who have been subject to the same influences, and 
whose enthusiasm is awakened by the same suggestions. 

To the Indian in his wild home, with his national 
costume, surrounded by warriors ready to go forth to 
battle, and young men panting for fame, their war songs 



100 THE IKOQUOIS. 

were soul-inspiring, and kindled an enthusiasm which can 
Bcarcelj be imagined by those who have not witnessed a 
war-dance and listened to a war song. 

The following is a specimen, but tame indeed compared 
with the original : 

But yvho are my foes ? they shall die. 
They shall fly o'er the plains like a fox; 
They shall shake like a leaf in the storm, 
Perfidious dogs — they roast our sons with fire. 

Five winters in hunting we'll spend, 
While mourning our warriors slain. 

Till our youth grown to men 

For the battle path trained, 
Our days like our father's we'll end. 

Ye are dead noble men ! ye are gone 

My brother — my fellow — my friend ! 

On the death path where brave men must go ; 
But we live to revenge you! we haste 
To die as our forefathers died. 

The eagles scream on high ; 
They whet their forked beaks, 
Raise, raise the battle cry, 
'Tis fame our leader seeks. 

The battle birds swoop from the sky, 
They thirst fur the warrior's heart; 
They look from their circles on high, 
And scorn every flesh but the brave. 

I fall, but my body shall lie, 

A name for the gallant to tell ; 

The gods shall repeat it on high. 

And young men grow brave at the sound. 

Hear my voice ye heroes ! 
On that day when our warriors sprang 
With shouts on the dastardlv foe. 




BABY FKAMK 



TRANSPORTATION OF CHILDREN. 101 

Just vengeance my heart burned to take 
On the cruel and treacherous breed, 
The Bwoin — the Fox — the Sauk. 

And here, on my breast, have I bled; 
See — see ! my battle scars ! 
Ye mountains tremble at my yell ! 
I strike for life. 

The Indian mother has certainly invented the most 
convenient method of carrying and lullabying her baby. 
All babies are nearly of the same size, and nobody need 
to be told how long or wide a baby frame is made. It is 
a straight board, sometimes with side pieces, and always 
with a hoop over the head from which to suspend a curtain 
for the protection of the little eyes from the sun, and thus 
enveloped in a blanket and laced to the frame, they were 
carried upon the back of the mother by a stay which came 
over her forehead, and with much less fatigue than in the 
arms. The baby is kept in the frame a great portion of 
the time when it is an infant, and it is astonishing how 
contented it remains in its little prison. When the 
mother is at work in the field she hangs her baby on a low 
limb of a tree, where it is rocked by the wind. When she 
is busy in the house, she suspends it on a nail or seats it in 
the corner, and sometimes hangs it where she can swing it 
to and fro as she passes, " singing as she goes." 

The following is a baby song, which will compare well 
with the songs of a similar sentiment among any people; 
and as in other cases, the translation is not so good as the 
original : 

CRADLK SONG. . 

Swinging, swinging, lullaby, 

Sleep, little daughter sleep, 
'Tis your mother watching by ; 

Swinging, swinging she will keep 
Little daughter lullaby. 



102 TKE IRIQUOIS. 

'Tis your mother loves you dearest, 

Sleep, sleep, daughter sleep ; 
Swinging, swinging, ever nearest, 

Babv, baby do not weep, 
Little daughter lullaby. 

Swinging, swinging, lullaby, 

Sleep, sleep little one. 
And thy mother will be nigh ; 

Swing, swing, not alone, 
Little baby lullaby. 

As an instance of the appreciation in which the Iroquois 
held the noble qualities of the heart, their enthusiasm, 
and the honors they thought it not wrong to bestow upon 
woman, may be related the story of the daughter of Black 
Chief, who was a Seneca Sachem residing at Squawky Hill, 
in the valley of the Genesee : 

Black Chief was one of their brave men in time of 
war, and also endowed with all the noble, generous quali- 
ties which win love and honor in time of peace. He had 
an only daughter, who was greatly endeared to her people, 
because, like her father, she had a soul ever prompting 
her to generous deeds. She was also very beautiful, and 
possessed a mind of superior order, and was in every way 
gifted, worthy to be the Chieftain's daughter. When her 
father died they honored her above all other women, and 
gave to her the title and authority of Princess. 

They had a superstition, that during her life, the Iro- 
quois would again be restored to their ancient power, and 
take a place among the nations of the earth. So, many 
were the prayers which ascended to the Great Spirit for 
the long life of their young queen. They gathered flowers 
and strewed in her path when she went forth, and brought 
to her the finest venison and the rarest fruits for her table. 
She was not made haughty and imperious by her honors 



HONOR TO THE NOBLE DEAD. 103 

but continued gentle and affectionate, tliougli it was but a 
little while that she remained to receive these tokens of 
unaffected homage. The Great Spirit did not see jEit to 
answer their prayers. In an evil hour the pestilence 
swept the land, and whole villages were desolated in a night. 
In the midst of their calamities, they thought less of 
themselves than of the daughter of their beloved Chief. 
Whilst the hand of the destroyer left her unharmed, they 
were not made utterly wretched. But when their lamen- 
tations were dying away, and health again brought cheer- 
fulness to their dwellings, she was stricken, and the light 
which had been so beautiful in their eyes went out in utter 
darkness. Now the wail of the mourners around the couch 
of the dead was sincere and heart-rending. They did not 
build for her the " Cabin of Death," but constructed a scaf- 
fold among the trees of a neighboring grove, and adorning 
her with all that their skill or taste could devise, placed her 
upon it in a sitting posture, and from far and near all the 
people gathered together to join in the solemn rites, which 
were to testify their love for the living and their grief for 
the dead. Her lifeless form was embowered with roses and 
running vines, and garlands of flowers were wreathed at 
her feet. All that the Indian considered most valuable — 
golden ears of his beloved maize, and the most costly furs, 
were scattered in profusion around her. 

Every night fires were lighted and watchmen stationed 
to guard her body from danger, and every morning they 
again assembled to renew the utterance of their grief 

The mourning continued many days, and when it was 
no longer possible to preserve her in their sight, she was 
buried, while at her grave was chanted a solemn dirge by 
the mingled voices of a great multitude, whe filled the air 
with such plaintive wailings as can come only from broken 
hearts. 



104 



THE IROQUOIS. 



I cannot help pausing here to ask, if such a people de- 
serve no better doom than annihilation ? if those who 
call themselves Christians "have done what they could," 
to tunc these harps of the wilderness to accord with those 
of the cherubim and seraphim in the choirs above ? 




CHAPTEK VI. 

LEGENDARY LITEKATUKE. 

If, centuries ago, some amateur chronicler had wan- 
dered peacefully among the North American Indians, 
making himself familiar with their language and welcome 
at their firesides, that he might listen to their legends 
and record them as they were related in their family 
circles, in the same way as bands of Eastern wanderers 
were accustomed to revel in Arabian tales, we might have 
had some idea of the poetry and enthusiasm and glowing 
images of a people whose thoughts and fancies soared so 
freely and wildly, and gave to their compositions a rich- 
ness and beauty, only rivalled on Grecian plains and among 
Celtic bards. 

Tradition tells us that Homer was a blind ballad 
singer, and that his immortal lines were gathered here 
and there among the people long after he slept with his 
fathers. 

The poems of Ossian were collected among the High- 
lands of Scotland, from those who sang them as their 
fathers sang them, and were as ignorant as the Indian of 
our forests of metrical rules and written lore, yet they are 
the admiration of poets and sages, and considered unparal- 
leled by any thing civilization can boast. 

On long winter evenings the Indian hunters gathered 
around their firesides, to listen to the historical tradi- 
5 



106 THE IROQUOIS. 

tions, legends of war and hunting, and their fairy tales, 
which had been handed down through their fathers and 
fathers' fathers with scarcely any variation for centuries, 
kindling the enthusiasm of the warriors and inspiring the 
little child with the desire some day to realize similar 
dreams, and hand his name down to posterity as the 
author of similar exploits. 

They have a superstitious fear of relating fables in 
summer ; not till after the snow comes will they talk of 
snakes, lest they should creep into their beds, or of evil 
genii lest they in some way be revenged. 

It is very difficult for a stranger to rightly understand 
the morale of their stories, though it is said by those who 
know them best, that to them the story was always an il- 
lustration of some important event or principle. 

To strangers they offer all the rites of hospitality, but 
do not open their hearts. If you ask them they will tell 
you a story, but it will not be such a stor}' as they tell 
when alone. They will fear your ridicule, and suppress 
their humor and their pathos ; and so thoroughly have 
they learned to distrust pale faces, that when they know 
that he who is present is a friend, they will still shrink 
from admitting him within the secret portals of their 
souls. 

And when you have learned all that language can con- 
vey, there are still a thousand images, suggestions and as- 
sociations recurring to the Indian, which can strike no 
chord in your heart. The myriad voices of nature are 
dumb to you, but to him they are full of life and power. 

LEGEND OF THE SEXECAS CONCERNING THEIR ORIGIN. 

All the legends when related by different people, have 
slight variations, but the general features are the same, 
and are preserved with remarkable exactness, considering 



INDIAN LEGEND. 107 

that they have beeen handed down for centuries in this 
oral way. The following is all the account the Senecas 
can give concerning their origin. 

They grew out of the crest of a mountain, at. the head 
of Canandaigua lake. The mountain w4iich gave them 
birth is Ge-uun-de-wah-gauh, or the Great Hill. Hence 
they are called the Great Hill People. 

A little boy during his rambles in the woods, found a 
pretty serpent, which he carried home for a plaything. 
In the course of time the serpent grew to be very large, 
and so voracious that he devoured all who came within 
the reach of his monstrous jaws. At length he coiled 
himself around the base of the mountain, so that none 
could pass to and fro, without falling victims to his 
ravenous appetite, and besides, the atmosphere was 
poisoned by his fetid breath. But starvation stared them 
in the face, and the people determined upon a sally, 
hoping to destroy the monster and escape unharmed. 
The serpent was so large that there was no hope of leap- 
ing over his body, and there was no way but to attempt a 
passage where the head and tail met. In a body all the 
people rushed down, determined on victory or death, and 
were all destroyed, except a little boy and his sister, who 
were left alone to defy the monster. Then came a 
pleasant dream to the boy, which directed him to string 
his bow with the silken tresses of his sister, and shoot the 
serpent in the eye, or underneath a scale. The child 
obeyed, and the arrow performed the work of death. In 
the convulsive throes of the serpent, the heads of the 
multitudes which he had devoured, were thrown upon the 
earth, and when he uncoiled, they rolled with him into the 
lake, where being petrified by the water, they still remain 
in the form of round stones, which cover the bed of the 
lake to this day ! 



108 THE IROQUOIS. ^ 

This is about as marvellous as the preservation of 
Romulus and Remus, and exhibits the same kind of 
propensity to account for what is unaccountable, and give 
themselves " a local habitation and a name." It is also 
quite as credible as many of the stories concerning the 
early history of the heroes of ancient history and fable, 
which are thought worth recording by every author who 
writes of Greece and Rome, and are read by every child 
with wonder. 

MEDICINE LEGENDS. 

The two following, are the legends concerning the prin- . 
cipal medicines used among the Iroquois. The ancient 
manner of administering them, was to take a small wooden 
goblet, and go to a running stream, and dipping towards 
the way which the stream ran, fill the goblet and return 
to set it by the fire, with some tobacco near it. A prayer 
is offered, while tobacco is thrown upon the fire, that the 
words may ascend upon the smoke. 

The medicine is placed upon a piece of skin near the 
goblet, and being very finely pounded, is taken up with a 
wooden spoon and dusted upon the water in three places, 
in spots in the form of a triangle, thus — *^* The medi- 
cine man then looks at it critically, and if it spreads itself 
over the surface of the water and whirls about, it is a 
sign that the invalid will be healed. If it sinks directly 
in the places where it is placed — there is no hope — the 
sick person will die, and they throw the. whole away. 

Once in six months there is a great feast made, at the 
hunting season in the fall and spring. On the night of 
the feast, as soon as it is dark, all who are present as- 
semble in one room, where no light or fire is allowed to 
burn, and placing the medicine near the covered embers, 
and the tobacco by its side, they commence singing some- 



MEDICINAL FEAST. 109 

thing which proclaims that the crow is coming to their 
feast, and also many other birds, and various animals, the 
brains of whose species form part of the medicine. At 
the end of the song, some one imitates the caw of the 
crow, and the songs of the birds, and howl of the wolf, 
&c., as if the animals were present. 

Three times in the course of tlie night they offer a 
prayer, while throwing tobacco upon the smothered flames, 
asking that the people may be protected from all harm, 
and if they receive wounds that the medicine may be ef- 
fectual in healing them. 

At the commencement of the ceremonies the doors are 
locked, and no one is allowed to enter or leave the house 
while they continue. Neither is any one allowed to sleep, 
as this would spoil the medicine. The feast begins just 
before dawn of day. The master of ceremonies first takes 
a deer's head, and biting off" a piece, imitates the cry of 
the crow, and passes the head of the animal to another, 
who does the same, till all have tasted, and imitated the 
peculiar note of some bird or animal. 

As soon as it begins to be light, the presiding officer 
takes a duck's bill, and dipping it full of the medicine, 
gives it to each one present, who puts it in a bit of skin, 
and wrapping it in several coverings, keeps it carefully till 
the next semi-annual feast. The skin of a panther is pre- 
ferred for the first envelope, if it can be obtained. 

Those who take a part in the ceremonies are medicine 
MEN ; Chiefs are allowed to be present, and any others 
who have been cured of any disease by the medicine. 

Without the building, the young people gather for 
merriment, and the fragments of the feast are given to 
them when it is finished. 

"When the medicine is used which is described in the 
second legend, the tune is sung which was heard at its 



1 10 THE IROQUOIS. 

discovery, both at the ceremonies of the feast and the time 
of administering it. 

They seem to think the ceremonies effectual in making 
the medicinal qualities of the compound imperishable. 
Each medicine man has a large quantity which he keeps 
in a ba?, and in order not to exhaust the whole, now and 
then adds pulverized corn roots, squash vines, &c., and 
whenever it is administered, several persons assemble and 
sing. Both kinds are considered especially useful in heal- 
ing wounds received in war. 

In reading the first legend, there will be seen very 
humorous allusions to the habits of the pigeon, the heron, 
and crow, and the whole is a curious invention, inspiring 
faith in the means used for healing, and I have seen many 
who affirmed that they had tested the wonderful powers 
of each ! 

No. 1. 

There once lived a man who was a great hunter. His 
generosity was the theme of praise in all the country, for 
he not only supplied his own family with food, but dis- 
tributed game among his friends and neighbors, and even 
called the birds and the animals of the forest to partake 
of his abundance. For this reason he received the ap- 
pellation of " Protector of birds and animals." 

He lived a hunter's life till war broke out between 
his own and some distant nation, and then he took the 
war-path. He was as brave a warrior as skilful hunter, 
and slew a great multitude of the enemy, till all were ly- 
ing dead around him, except one, who was a mighty man 
of valor ^ and in an unguarded moment the hunter received 
a blow from his tomahawk, in the head, which felled him 
to the earth. His enemy then took his scalp and fled. 

Some of his own party had seen what befell him, and, 



INDIAN LEGEND. 1 I 1 

supposing him dead, had left him on the field of battle ; 
but a Fox who wandered this way immediately recognized 
his old benefactor. Sorrowful indeed was he to find him 
slain, and began to revolve in his mind some means of 
restoring him to life. " Perhaps," said he, " some of my 
friends may know of a medicine by which his wounds may 
be healed, and he may live again." So saying, he ran 
into the forest and uttered the death lament^ which was 
the signal for all the animals to congregate. From far 
and near they came, till hundreds and thousands of every 
name had assembled around the body of the hunter, eagerly 
inquiring what hid happened. The Fox explains how 
he had accidentally come that way and found their friend 
stretched lifeless upon the earth. The animals draw near 
and examine him more closely, to be sure that life is extinct. 
They roll him over and over upon the ground and are 
satisfied that he is dead — there is not a single sign of life. 

" Then they hold a grand council, of which the Bear 
is speaker. When all are ready to listen, he asks if any 
one present is acquainted with any medicine which would 
restore the dead man to life. With great alacrity each 
one examines his medicine-hox^ but finds nothing adapted 
to this purpose. Being defeated in their noble object of 
restoring their friend, all join in a mournful howl — a 
requiem for the dead. This attracted a singing bird — the 
Oriole, who came quickly to learn the cause of the assem- 
bling of this great concourse, and their great lamentation. 
The Bear made known the calamity which had befallen 
them, and, as the birds would feel themselves equally 
afflicted, he requested the Oriole to flee away and invite 
all the feathered tribes to come to the council, and see if 
their united wisdom cannot devise a remedy that will re- 
store their friend to life. 

Soon are assembled all the birds of the air, even the 



112 THE moQuois. 

Great Eagle of the Iroquois, who is seldom induced to 
appear upon the earth, hastens to pay her respects to the 
remains of the renowned and benevolent hunter. All 
being satisfied that he was really dead, the united council 
of birds and animals, which remained convened, decided 
that his scalp must be recovered, saying, any bird or 
animal who pleased might volunteer to go upon this holy 
mission. The Fox was the first to offer his services, and 
departed full of hope that his zeal would be crowned with 
success. But after many days he returned, saying, he 
could find no traces of man's footsteps — not a chick or 
child belonged to any settlement. The great love which 
they bore their friend prompted several others to go upon 
the same mission ; and to the animals belonged the first 
right, as they had first found him. But at length the 
birds were anxious to show their devotion, and the Pigeon 
Hawk begged leave to make the first flight, as she was 
more swift of wing than any other, and could visit the 
whole world in the shortest space of time. They had 
scarcely missed him when he returned. He said he had 
been over the entire earth and found it not : but they did 
not consider his voyage satisfactory, as he had flown so 
swiftly that it was impossible for him to see any thing 
distinctly by the way ! 

Next the White Heron proposed that she be sent, 
because she was so slow of wing that she could see every 
object as she passed ! On her aerial voyage she discovered 
a plain covered with the vines of the wild bean, laden with 
the delicious fruit. It was too great a temptation for the 
Heron to resist, and she descended to enjoy a feast. So 
gluttonously did she partake that she could not rise again 
from the earth, and the council, after many days of anxious 
waiting, called for a substitute. Here the Crow came 
forward and acknowledged his fitness for such an office, 



INDIAN LEGEND. 113 

as he also was slow of wiog and was accustomed to hover 
over settlements^ and to discern them afar off ! and he 
would not be suspected of any particular design if he 
should linger near the one that contained the scalp ! 

The warrior who possessed the coveted treasure, knew 
the birds and animals were holding a council on the field 
of battle to devise means to recover it ; but when the 
crow drew near he was not alarmed. The smoke of the 
wigwams indicated a settlement, and as the crow sailed 
lazily through the air at a great height above the roofs of 
the cabins, he espied a scalp which he knew must be the 
one he sought, stretched out to dry. 

After various unsuccessful stratagems, he was able to 
seize it. and flew away to exhibit his trophy to the 
council. 

Now they attempt to fit it to the head ; but, being 
dry, it is impossible, and search is made to find something 
with which to moisten it ; but it is in vain. Then slowly 
moves forward the Great Eagle, and bids them listen to 
her words : 

'• My wings are never furled ; night and day, for years 
and hundreds of years, the dews of heaven have been 
collecting upon my back, as I sat in my nest, above the 
clouds, and perhaps these waters may have a virtue no 
earthly fountain can possess ; we will see." 

Then she plucked a feather from her wing and dipped 
it in the dewy elixir, which was applied to the shrivelled 
scalp, and lo ! it became pliable and fresh as if just re- 
moved. Now it would fit, but there must be a healing 
power to cause the flesh to unite, and again to awaken life. 

All are anxious to do something in this great work, 
and therefore all go forth to bring rare leaves and flowers 
and seeds and bark, the flesh of animals and the brains 
of birds, to form a healing mixture. When they return 



114 THE IROQUOIS. 

it is prepared, and being moistened with the dew is applied 
to the scalp, and instantly it adheres and becomes firm. 
Tliey cause the hunter to sit up, and he looks around in 
astonishment upon his numerous friends, unable to divine 
the meaning of so strange an assemblage. 

Then they bid him stand upon his feet, and tell him 
how he was found dead upon the plain, and how great was 
the lamentation of all those who had so long experienced 
his kindness, and the efforts they had made to restore 
him. They then give him the compound which had been 
the means of bringing him again to life, saying " it was 
the gift of the Great Spirit to man. He alone had 
directed them in the affairs of the council ; had brought 
the eagle to furnish the heavenly moisture, and give them 
wisdom in making the preparation, that they might fur- 
nish to man a medicine which should be effectual for every 
wound." 

When they had finished, the animals departed to their 
forest haunts, the eagle soared again to her eyry, and the 
birds of the air flew away to their nests in the tall trees, 
all happy and rejoicing that they had accomplished this 
great good. 

The hunter returned to his home and spread abroad 
the news of the miracle, and the knowledge of the wonder- 
ful medicine, which is used to this day among the Iroquois, 
who are the favorites of the Great Spirit. 

No. 2. 

An Indian hunter went forth to hunt, and as he wan- 
dered in the forest he heard a strain of beautiful music far 
off among the trees. He listened but could not tell whence 
it came, and knew it could not be by any human voice, or 
from any instrument he had ever heard. As he came 



A HUNTING LEGEND. 115 

near it ceased. The next evening he went forth again, but 
he heard not the music, and again, but in vain. 

Then came the G-reat Spirit to him in a dream and told 
him he must fast, and wash himself till he was purified, 
and then he might go forth, and he would hear again the 
music. So he purified himself and went again among 
the darkest trees of the forest, and soon his ear caught 
the sweet strains, and as he drew near they became more 
beautiful, and he listened till he had learned them, and 
could make the same sweet sounds. Then he saw that it 
was a plant, with a tall green stem and long tapering leaves. 
He took his knife and cut the stalk, but ere he had 
scarcely finished, it healed and was the same as before. He 
cut it again, and again it healed, and then he knew that 
it would heal diseases, and he took it home and dried it 
by the fire, and pulverized it ; and applying a few particles 
of it to a dangerous wound, no sooner had it touched the 
flesh than it was whole. Thus the Great Spirit taught 
the Indian the nature of medicinal plants, and directed 
him where they were to be found. 

A HUNTING LEGEND. 

One of the ancient Grecian philosophers, whose life 
and sayings are deemed worthy of recording, once aston- 
ished the people by relating the adventures he had expe- 
rienced on a long journey through many countries, where 
he met '' speaking trees, pigmies, phoenixes, satyrs and 
dragons," and many other things equally marvellous, of 
which I could not help being reminded when I heard the 
hunter^s legend. 

Of Anaxagoras, another Grecian philosopher, it is re- 
lated as one of his predictions, that on a certain day a 
stone would fall from the sun, and on the appointed day, 
a stone did fall from the sun in a part of Thrace, near the 



• jg THE IROQUOIS. 

river ^^os. And Plutarch states tbat this stone Tvas not 
only sho^n, but in his time greatly reverenced by the Pelo- 
ponnesians. At another time it was asserted that a large 
stone fell from heaven, and Anaxagoras said that the whole 
heavens was composed of stones, and that by its rapid rev- 
olutions they were all held together, and when those revo- 
lutions get slower, they fall down. 

At another time he said, when the weather was very 
fair, that there would be a heavy rain and storm, and went 
to the Olympic games in a shaggy skin or leathern dress, 
prepared for such a change ; and as it did rain according 
to his predictions, the people honored him as though he 
possessed supernatural knowledge. 

But the Indian philosophers tell the wonderful expe- 
rience of the hunter to make exaggeration and falsehood 
contemptible and ridiculous. 

ADVENTURES OF THE HUNTER HO-CHA-GAH. 

Ho-cha-gah was a hunter of great renown. His wife 
had plenty of venison. In his tent were many furs and 
nice skins, and the story of his adventures has come down 
through many generations. 

He built him a little hut beside a lake, where the dark 
forest came down to its silvery border, and stretched far 
away over the mountain. Every day he took his bow and 
quiver of arrows, and went forth to find the deer or 
the wolf, and trap the beaver or the otter, but this 
time he was not successful. Many months he lingered in 
hopes to find something to reward his labors, but in vain. 
The spring came and he must return home. But he 
thought at least he would have something new to relate, 
so he resolved to launch upon the water a new-fashioned 
boat, and see whither it would conduct him. The food 



ADVENTURES OF A HUNTER. 117 

which he had not consumed he encased in bags of slippery 
elm and sank them in the water, that they might be pre- 
served should he return again to hunt beside the lake. 
Himself he inclosed in a bottle of the same material and 
set out on his floating expedition. 

For a long time he glided smoothly over the surface, 
but at length he experienced a strange sensation as if he 
were sailing through the air. Then he struck a rock, and 
then another, bounding along like a billow, till he was 
again upon the placid stream. The noise was like thunder, 
and he knew he must have descended from a great height 
with the foam of waters. 

Soon he was cast upon the beach, and now wished to 
come out of his hiding place, for he was faint for want of 
food. But he could not open his prison, and feared he 
must die without relating his adventures. But he was 
awakened one morning by a noise like the beak of a bird, 
against the side of the bottle which was now dry and hard, 
and soon the light entered, and he saw a crow picking its 
way to him in hopes of finding food. 

Now he was able to extricate himself and came forth, and 
saw that he had came safely over the cataract of Niagara ! 

With this he went home and astonished his friends, 
who looked upon him as almost a superior being, and be- 
lieved he was miraculously preserved by the Great Spirit. 

His love of adventures was not satisfied, and in a little 
time he went again to the forest and made his camp by 
the lake, where he had been before so unsuccessful in 
hunting. Now he found plenty of game, and when spring 
came, he thought he would try still another mode of voy- 
aging — he would like to fly through the air. Seeing a 
flock of geese upon the waters, he thought if he were se- 
cured to their feet he might rise with them and be carried 
along through the aerial regions, and look down upon the 



118 THE IROQUOIS. 

valleys beneath. So lie took strips of bark and stealthily 
crept into the water, and swimming along, suddenly encir- 
cled them with his string, and tied himself to their feet, 
when with a great screaming they rose and he was borne 
along over mountains, and rivers, and valleys, where he 
saw strange people, and plains, and heard strange and 
beautiful music. After awhile he was borne so far aloft, 
that he could scarcely breathe ; then he severed the string 
and descended again to earth. On alighting, he found 
himself snugly settled in a hollow tree. He received no 
harm, but could see no way of escape. For several days 
he was a prisoner, and again in danger of starving, when 
he heard voices and endeavored to speak. The noise he 
made attracted the attention of those who passed by, and 
thinking it some animal, they felled the tree, and lo ! to 
their astonishment, it was a man. 

As soon as he was set free, he proceeded on his way 
and came to a large stream, the color of which was bright 
crimson. Never before had he seen any thing so beauti- 
ful. He drank of it and the taste was like a ripe straw- 
berry. He followed it to its source, and found it issued 
from one of these berries, the size of which was marvel- 
lous, and gave rise to a never failing rivulet, to refresh 
the hunter when he was weary and found no food. 

Again he pursued his way, and whilst wandering in 
the forest he saw something that looked like a great 
cloud. Slowly it sailed to and fro, and when it descended 
he saw that it was an army of grasshoppers each as large 
as a canoe. They were frightful to behold. 

Again he thought he would spend the winter in hunt- 
ing, and plunged into the thick forest where the bear and 
buffalo made their haunts. But in vain he bent his bow 
and set his trap. They all eluded his vigilance. Then 
in a dream was suggested to him the hunter^s charm. 



ADVENTURES OF A HUNTER. 119 

He used it, and there came flocking to him from all the 
country every animal of the forest, so near that he could 
touch them, and so tame that he could sleep in the midst 
of them unharmed. Then he built him a hut to dry his 
venison, and though he had enough, he was still sur- 
rounded. Every four-footed and creeping thing infested 
his dwelling till he was obliged to flee. 

Again he returned hence and related his marvellous 
adventures, which now none believed, yet he was not 
satisfied. His thirst for fame was insatiable, and his 
egotism inexhaustible. Absenting himself another long 
period, he returned with still greater beasts. 

He crossed a stream of a rich golden hue, and being 
thirsty drank of its waters, and was astonished at the de- 
licious flavor. On tracing it, he found it to issue from a 
mandrake which was an inexhaustible foutitain, and sent 
forth its juices to refresh the wayfarer, lest he faint in 
the wilderness. 

Pursuing his way he saw a duck sailing upon a 
dimpling pool, and bent his bow for its destruction ; the 
arrow passed through the duck, and glancing upon the 
waters, pierced a deer that was slaking her thirst at the 
fountain ; not having spent its force, the arrow glided on 
and entered a tree, making an opening from which issued 
a stream of richest honey. Here he rested and enjoyed a 
feast. Again when sitting beneath a spreading walnut- 
tree, he saw a nut rolling over and over upon the ground ; 
on striking it with his tomahawk, a seam was made in the 
shell, through which came forth a bear; and then 
another and another, till six monsters of the forest were 
reclining around him, whose home was the walnut-shell ! 

The bears in the walnut-shell remind us of the 
fairies in a hazel-nut shell, as sung by Drayton, our old 



1 20 THE IROQUOIS. 

English poet, in the " Court of Fairy." In fear of falling 
into the hands of a hobgoblin the fairies, 

" Hop, and Mop, and Drop, so clear, 
Pip, and Trip, and Skip, that were 
To Mab, their sovereign dear, 

Her special maids of honor ; 
Fib, and Tib, and Prick, and Pin, 
Tick, and Quick, and Jill, and Jin, 
Sit, and Nit, and Wap, and "Win, 
The train that wait upon her. 

" Upon a Grasshopper they got, 
And what with awhile and with trot, 
For hedge nor ditch they spared not ; 

But after her they hie them. 
A Cob-web over them they throw 
To shield the wind if it should blow, 
Themselves they wisely could bestow, 

Lest any should espy them. 

" At length one chanced to find a nut, 
In the end of which a hole was cut. 
Which lay upon a hazel-root, 

There scattered by a Squirrel, 
Which out the kernel gotten had ; 
When quoth this fay, 'Dear queen, be glad, 
Let Oberon be ne'er so mad, 

I'll set you safe from peril. 

** • Come all into this nut,^ quoth she, 
' Come closely in, be ruled by me, 
£!ach one may here a chooser he, 

For room ye need not wrestle. 
Nor need ye be together heapt,' 
80 one by one therein they crept. 
And lying down they soundly slept 

As safe as in a Castle ! " 



LEGEND OF THE JO-GO-O. 121 

A PIGMY LEGEND. 

The memory of every son and daughter of the Saxons 
will furnish abundance of fairy tales to correspond with 
the most incredible of those related around Indian fire- 
sides, I heard, not long since, a little girl reading *• House- 
hold Stories." translated from the German, and on reading 
her an Indian legend, she exclaimed, " Why, they are like my 
The stories," and I was myself struck with the resemblance, 
stories of " Little Red Ridinghood," '-The Frog Prince," 
'• The Three Little Men in the Wood," and a thousand 
others, have been the delight of Christian children for cen- 
turies, and nothing a heathen can relate is more ridiculous 
than " Mother Goose's Melodies." Yet they are a part 
of our national literature. No man, however wise, would 
consider himself educated who could not say — 

" There was an old woman, and she, and she, 
And out of her elbow grew au apple tree." 

" Old mother Hubbard 
"Went to the cupboard, &q." 

'* The Midsummer Night's Dream" of Shakspeare, or 
Spenser's " Fairy Queen," have not been the less admired 
because they were utterly improbable. I cannot relate 
any thing so beautiful in the way of Indian fairy stories 
but those which I relate, and hundreds which have never 
been related, are exceedingly beautiful in their own met- 
aphorical language ; and I almost falter in attempting to 
convey any idea of their imaginative creations, in English. 
The following are faint transcripts of the original : 

LEGEND OF THE JO-GO-O, OR PIGMIES DESTROYING THE MON- 
STEE, BUFFALOES. 

The Pigmies were little folk, who lived far away to the 
6 



122 THE IROQUOIS. 

north among the clefts of the rocks. Ote-ho-we-geh, " The 
cold regions," designated the place of their abode, because it 
was so cold they could not grow. So they were not more 
than two feet in height, but they were very powerful, and 
ever on the alert doing good. Especially were they the 
friends of the red man, and knew if dangers threatened 
him in any part of the country. 

The Do-ge-ya-go-wa, or Great Buffaloes, had their 
dwellings in the earth, and went from place to place in 
subterranean walks. 

Three of these monsters were on their way to the Salt 
Lakes of the south, when three of the Pigmies, who al- 
ways warred with giants and monsters, snakes, lizards and 
every thing prejudicial to man, set forth to destroy them. 
To be one day at the north, and the next far away thou- 
sands of miles to the south, was a trifling feat for them to 
perform, so swiftly did they go in their fairy canoes. 

One day an Indian maiden was dipping water from a 
little brook that flowed into the 0-hee-yo, and as she bent 
over the stream, the water reflected a strange appearance. 
On looking up she beheld the three Pigmies just alighting 
near where she stood. She knew immediately that there 
was danger, for they never at any other time made them- 
selves visible to mortal eyes. 

These monster buffaloes fed only on human flesh, and 
were therefore a great terror, as they could suddenly rise 
up out of the ground and destroy whole settlements, be- 
fore there was time for any to flee. The Pigmies knew 
where, they had gone, and that they would soon return, 
and bade the maiden flee to inform her people, that they 
might be ready for flight if they should not succeed in 
their mission ; but told her they would meet her again at 
the stream and inform her if they were able to destroy 
them. 



A WAR LEGEND. 123 

When they had finished their message, with one stroke 
of their paddles the canoe soared into the air and sailed 
along over the tree tops a great distance, and then de- 
scended again to the water, when another stroke bore it 
again aloft. 

When they reached the place where the buffaloes ap- 
peared, they cut down the largest hickory trees and split 
them in two parts for their bows, and made them arrows 
of the tallest pines of the forest. With these they pierced 
them and sent the arrows with such force that they passed 
through the monsters, who fell, crushing whole forests be- 
neath them. From their blood arose the small buffaloes, 
Do-ge-ya-go, while their bones have remained undecayed 
for untold centuries. 

The Pigmies having accomplished their purpose, re- 
turned to inform the maiden at the stream, who listened 
to their story with delight, and ran to announce the glad 
tidings to her people, and then departed to their northern 
home. 

All the little buffaloes from far and near came regu- 
larly to dance on the spot where their progenitors were 
slain, and the Indian, as he passes the place, shows a par- 
ticle from some mammoth bone, to wear as a charm to 
procure him whatever he desires — the love of a beautiful 
maiden — success on the war path, or plenty of game in his 
hunting excursions. 

A WAR LEGEND. 

In this story is developed the principle upon which war 
was waged among the Iroquois. Revenge for a great in- 
jury was the cause of the beginnings of strife. Then sub- 
jugation for the sake of peace, like the Romans of old, 
and the Iroquois have been justly called the " Romans of 



124 THE IROQUOIS. 

America." There was sometliing in their proud and dig- 
nified bearing, in their national policy, and their warlike 
exploits, like the people who extended their arms into 
every civilized and uncivilized land. 

In the words of the poet, who has given metrical 
beauty to their legends, and added his own to their lofty 
enthusiasm : 

" Roman remains in Britain, with their double lines of 
circumvallation, and the Druidic circles of moss-covered 
stones, are objects, not more interesting to the antiquary 
than the mighty tumuli of tjie west ; and the ruins of 
walled towns in the wilds of Wisconsin. What are a 
few mouldering abbeys and falling turrets, compared 
with the colossal remains of empires in Central America ? 
Poet and historian have lavished their descriptive skill on 
the burial rites of Alaric, whose bones repose in the sandy 
bed of the Busentinus, but not less imposing was the fu- 
neral of Blackbird, the Ohama Chief, who was inhumed 
bestriding his war-horse in a hill sepulchre that overlooks 
the Missouri. 

" Bed Jacket sitting in tears on a fallen oak, viewing 
the cleared fields of the white man, after a fruitless hunt 
for game in and around the haunts of his youth, was a 
nobler spectacle of sorrow than even Marius reclining 
amid the ruins of Carthage." 

And Jefi"erson says : " Before we condemn the Indian 
of this continent as wanting genius, we must consider that 
letters had not yet been introduced among them. If the 
Indian at this time is compared with Europeans north of 
the Alps, when the Roman arms and arts first crossed the 
mountains, the comparison would be very unequal, because 
Europe at that time was swarming with numbers ; because 
numbers produce emulation and multiply chances of im- 
provement, and one improvement begets another. Yet I 



WAR DANCE. 125 

may safely ask, how many great poets — how many able 
mathematicians — how many great inventors in arts and 
sciences had Europe north of the Alps then produced ? 
And it was sixteen centuries after this before a Newton 
could be found." 

The manner in which the legend represents the Indian 
warrior meeting death at the stake is the manner in which 
every Indian warrior died. No refinement or duration of 
torture could extort from him a groan. The faith of the 
Christian martyr supports him in the hour of trial ; but 
the Indian excels him in defying his tormenters, with only 
his own dauntless spirit to sustain him ; he will die, too, 
rather than surrender, though he knows he will fall into 
the hands of those who, looking upon him as a fallen foe, 
will be merciful. 

The war-dance, so often alluded to in Indian story, is 
said to be beyond description the most exciting and in- 
spiring of all theatrical scenes. It is the acting of war. 
The song, which kindles enthusiasm, is first sung, with 
the same motive and the same efi"ect as the martial music 
awakes it echoes on Christian plains^ and then follows 
all the pomp and circumstance of war : arrows fly thick 
and fast, the tomahawk is wielded, the dead and dying 
strew the battle-field, and by various devices of paint and 
false scalps, hundreds are bleeding, when follows the 
shout of victory and the dirge for the slain. Those who 
have witnessed it say it is impossible for one who is not 
an actor to realize that it can be any thing less than a real 
battle. Those who pass through the initiatory process of 
being trained for warriors at a military school, can imagine 
the influence of the war-dance upon those to whom war is 
the only field of glory. I wish I could transfer to my paper 
something of the enthusiasm with which an Indian relates 
the legend. 



126 THE IROQUOIS. 

THE VIRGIN OF WAR. 

There lived an aged Indian almost alone in the forest, 
with his wife and two sons. They had never heard of 
war or dissension ; then the woods echoed only the hunter's 
happy song, and the sweet melodies of the birds. But 
there came a vision to the father concerning the future, 
when nations would hate one another, and the wilderness 
would resound to the shrill war-whoop, and the tomahawk 
and scalping-knife would be used among his people. 

So he called his sons and bade them listen to his in- 
structions. He made a bow and a quiver of arrows, and 
taught them skill in the use of them. He made a war 
club, and told them if they should be assailed they could 
with this slay their enemies. He gave them a scalping- 
knife and said, " with this you can secure the trophies of 
your victories." Then came the war-song and the dance 
in exultation of their triumphs. The children listened 
eagerly to their father's words, though they understood 
little of the tendency of his teachings ; they became expert 
in the use of all the instruments their father had made, 
and indulged daily in the amusements which this practice 
afforded them, while their mother looked on in wonder at 
all these new things which had never before been seen by 
human eyes. 

One day there came a stranger to their lodge when 
the old man and his sons were in the forest. He said to 
the wife he wished to meet her husband in order to take 
counsel with him, and if he would come to the little brook 
which ran through a distant field, he would see a large 
tree in the water ; he must come and place his right foot 
upon the tree, and he himself would place his left foot 
upon the tree, and thus they would talk of the things 
which he had come to say. But before her husband left 



THE VIRGIN OF WAR. 127 

his lodge she must take the bow which he had been mak- 
ing and cut the string nearly off, but say nothing to him 
about it, for a great evil would come upon her if she did 
not in all things obey his directions ; and here the stranger 
looked very fiercely upon her, so that she trembled and 
did not dare to disobey. 

When her husband returned she gave him the message, 
and before he set out to meet the messenger she secretly 
cut his bow-string and did not dream of evil. 

The old man departed, and all day and night they 
waited, but he did not return. The children said, " what 
has become of our father ? Let us go and seek him," So 
they took their bows and quivers and went to the little 
brook, and there saw their father's body lying in the water 
full of arrows. Then they knew that he had been killed, 
and that the stranger was their enemy. When they met 
upon the fallen tree the stranger pushed him into the 
water, and when he attempted to use his bow, the string 
snapped, and his enemy overcame him. He also took 
from him his bow and quiver and now had gone far away, 
" We must be revenged ! " exclaimed the eldest of the 
boys ; " this is what our father taught us. We must 
seek him who has slain our father, and take his scalp." 

They took the body home and mourned and wept 
many days. Then they commenced with greater interest 
to sing the war-song and perform the dance, and wield 
the tomahawk, and their mother reproved them. But 
they said, this is what our father taught us we must do ; 
and now we must go and seek him who has slain our 
father. We must be revenged. 

Then they sharpened their arrows, and strung their 
bows, and departed on the war-path — not to gain fame or 
glory — not to conquer for the sake of extending their 
dominions — not to slay to gratify a thirst for blood ; but 



128 THE IROQUOIS. 

to be avenged for a family wrong. They took the way 
their father went, and after many days found the people 
of the stranger, towards whom their hatred had been ex- 
cited, and shot the first man that came within the flight 
of an arrow. In taking the scalp they were not expert, 
but succeeded in obtaining the trophy which was to tell 
of their success, and holding it up in sight of their enemies, 
exclaimed, " Follow us, but ye will not overtake us ; thus 
shall it be done unto those who destroy life ! " 

This the multitude understood not, and looked in 
astonishment at the bleeding symbol of their vengeance. 
They returned and laid the scalp at the feet of their 
grandmother, for it was her son who had been killed, and 
to her they brought the compensation — blood for blood, 
had been shed. They then prepared it as their father had 
directed, and hung it upon the roof of their dwelling, as 
the testimony of their valor. 

But they were not content. They had tasted of ex- 
citement, and panted again for the war-path. But now 
their enemies were prepared, and one was taken prisoner, 
yet they knew not what to do, for they had never before 
had conflicts with enemies. But the youthful warrior re- 
membered his father's instructions concerning the treat- 
ment of prisoners, and told them he would die by fire — 
he would be burned at the stake. So with his own hands 
he piled the fagots and wound the withes about his body, 
and bade them apply the torch. They looked with horror 
upon the scene, and pity upon his sufi'erings, and would 
gladly have released him from such torture. But he 
defied them, saying it was not in their power to make him 
cry out for pain. He was dying a warrior's death, and 
scorned to receive compassion. Then he threw his hands 
in the air, and sung the war-song till his breath died away, 
thus setting an example to all who would win honor. 



INDIAN FIRESIDE. 129 

Now the remaining brother must again seek revenge. 
He induced a young companion to join him, and filling 
the air with their wild chorus, they went forth to slay 
many in return for him who had fallen into their hands. 
Their arrows flew thick and fast, while they concealed 
themselves from the sight of those whom they pursued, 
till many had fallen ; then they took a prisoner, and re- 
turned home. 

He too must die at the stake, and though not a war- 
rior, he imitated the example set him by the youth who 
thirsted for glory, and exulted in his sufi'erings, singing 
the war-song as long as life remained. 

His people were now enraged, and plotted the destruc- 
tion of their enemies. A runner was sent to invite the 
chiefs of this war-seeking nation to meet them at an ap- 
pointed place for the purpose of adjusting their difficul- 
ties. But the young warrior whose brother gloried in 
torture, said he feared their treachery, and would not 
allow the chiefs of his people to fall into their hands. 
No, the warriors should go forth prepared for battle. He 
had trained thein in expectation of this day, and they 
were ready for war and ready for victory. Then echoed 
the war-whoop through all the forest, and they marched in 
battle array to lie in wait for their enemies. 

They encamped on the brow of a hill, arriving at the 
designated time, but the little band which was to meet 
them to hold a council for peace was nowhere to be seen. 
They threw up a palisade for their defence, and com- 
menced the festivities which were the warrior's pastime. 
What a scene for their enemies who now first looked from 
their concealment upon the war dance. In the midst of 
the forest was a great fire, around it here and there sat 
the old men in groups, while the young men with their 
painted cheeks gleaming in the red torch-light, and the 
6* 



130 THE IROQUOIS. 

bright flames waving over their brows, danced among the 
trees and sang the thrilling songs which stirred them to 
daring deeds, and drove the fear of death far away from 
their hearts. 

But whilst in the midst of their rejoicings, an 
arrow comes whizzing through the air. They heed it not, 
and continue their songs. Another is heard, and another, 
but the revelry does not cease ; now a strain is heard to 
which the shrill war-whoop is the answer ; every bow is 
strung, and a thousand arrows are sent like the swift 
lightning back upon the invaders. .A fierce battle ensues, 
many warriors are slain. The enemy flee and are pursued. 
The air is filled with the shouts of the victors. The 
ground is covered with the dead. 

The next day every warrior returns with a scalp, the 
trophy of his valor, and the youth, to whose wisdom in 
council they owe the victory, assembles all the people and 
announces that his mission is fulfilled. He is about to 
leave the earth. He has repeated to them his father's 
instructions. They have learned all the arts of war, and 
know how to take the scalps of their enemies. He has 
taught them the song and the dance, and bids them forget 
not to die like warriors, in battle or at the stake. 

The next day they seek him and he is dead. 

Now these nations have learned war, and the war-path 
becomes a beaten trail, so constantly do they go to and 
fro to take the scalps of their enemies. So they make a 
trench, and by a law which all agree to obey, pursuit shall 
not be carried across this boundary. The warrior might 
come into the enemy's country, but when he was driven 
back, after he had crossed the line, he should be safe. 
There they often stood in great numbers, within sight of 
each other, but neither footsteps nor arrows must go over 
the trench. 



MYTHOLOGICAL LEGENDS. 131 

On one occasion, when they were pursuing the enemy, 
a man ran swiftly up into a tree to escape, and when they 
looked, behold, he was changed into a bear ! His clan 
was ever after called the Bear Clan. On another occa- 
sion, a man who was fleeing descended into a deep ravine, and 
looking for him as he ascended the opposite side, lo, he 
was a wolf ! thus obtaining for his clan the title of Wolf 
Clan. After long years of enmity and a thousand battles, 
it was discovered that these clans which had been so long 
at war were one nation. They then buried the tomahawk 
and smoked the pipe of peace. 

MYTHOLOGICAL LEGENDS. 

He-no was the Jupiter of the Iroquois, and Ga-oh re- 
minds us of ^olus. Those who are familiar with these 
mythological personages of the Indian creation, make use 
of them as the classical student does of the gods of the 
ancients. When there is a furious storm they say, He-no 
is in a rage. When a violent tempest shakes the earth, 
they say, Ga-oh is in a frenzy. But among a great pro- 
portion of the reading community, these allusions would 
have no meaning. A thorough knowledge of Indian his- 
tory, language and legends, would add a great store of 
pleasing images to the collections of the poet and novelist, 
that would be thoroughly American, and add new interest 
to American literature. 

THE LEGEND OF HE-NO, THE THUNDERER. 

A young maiden residing at Ga-u-gwa, a village above 
Niagara Falls, at the mouth of Cayuga creek, had been 
contracted in marriage to an old man of ugly manners and 
disagreeable person. As the marriage was hateful to her, 
and by the customs of the nations there was no escape, 



132 THE IROQUOIS. 

she resolved upon self destruction. Launching a bark 
canoe upon the Niagara, she directed it towards the cur- 
rent, and was soon swept over the frightful precipice amid 
the foaming waters. He-no the Thunderer had his home 
behind the sheet, and seeing her descend, he caught her in 
a blanket and carried her behind the fall. One of the 
servants of He-no being attracted by her beauty desired 
to marry her, to which she had no objection, and by the 
voice of the Thunderer they were united. 

For many years before this the people of Gra-u-gwa 
had been visited by an annual pestilence, which destroyed 
great numbers and for which they could assign no cause. 
At the end of a year He-no revealed to the maiden the 
cause, and sent her back to tell the people the remedy. 
He said a monstrous serpent dwelt under the village, who 
depended upon the bodies of the dead for sustenance, and 
in order to obtain his annual supply he went forth once a 
year and poisoned the river Niagara, and Cayuga creek, 
so that all who drank of them perished. 

The people were directed to move to Buffalo creek, 
and the young wife was charged to bring up the son of 
which she would soon become the mother, in retirement, 
and not mingle in the strifes of war. With those injunc- 
tions she departed on her mission. 

When the great serpent again poisoned the waters the 
earth brought him no food, and putting forth his head to 
discover the cause, he saw the village deserted. He im- 
mediately scented the trail by which the people had de- 
parted, and followed them to their new home. But whilst 
passing through a narrow channel. He-no discharged upon 
him a mighty thunderbolt which inflicted a mortal wound. 
The Senecas still point to a place in the creek where the 
banks were shelved out in a semi-circular form, which was 
done by the serpent when he turned to escape. 



MYTHOLOGICAL LEGENDS. I S3 

His body floated down the stream and lodged upon the 
verge of the Cataract, stretching nearly across the river. 
The raging waters thus dammed up broke through the 
rocks behind, and thus the whole verge of the Fall, upon 
which the body rested, was precipitated with it into the 
abyss beneath. In this manner, says the legend, was 
formed the Horse Shoe Fall. 

Before this event there was a passage behind the 
sheet, from one shore to the other. This was not only 
broken up, but the home of He-no destroyed, so that he 
removed his habitation to the far West. 

The child of the maiden grew up to boyhood, and was 
found to possess the power of darting lightning at his 
will. On a certain occasion having been rudely assailed 
by a playmate, he was transfixed with a thunderbolt. 
He-no immediately translated him to the clouds and made 
him assistant Thunderer ! 

GA-OH. 

Ga-oh was the Spirit of the winds, and is represented 
in the form of a man, with a face furrowed by age, sitting 
in solitary confinement, with a tangle of discordant winds 
ever around him ; when he is restless, the rushing noise of 
the mighty wind is heard, in the forest and upon the sea. 
On his motions depend the rolling of the billows, and the 
fury of the tempest. He puts the whirlwind in motion, 
and bids it again be still. When he is perfectly quiet 
there is silence over all the earth, and a gentle motion 
moves the soft fanning breeze. But Oa-oh is subject to the 
Great Spirit, and ever mindful of his will. 

THE SEVEN STARS. 

Seven little boys asked their mothers to permit them 



134 THE IROQUOIS. 

to make a feast; but they were denied. Still intent upon 
their purpose, they went alone and procured a little white 
dog to sacrifice, and while dancing around the fire, they 
were suddenly carried away through the air by some in- 
visible spirit. Their mothers gazed after them with in- 
consolable anguish, till they saw them take their place in 
the sky among the starry hosts, where they are dancing 
still as the seven stars of the Pleiades. 

The ancient mythology relates that these stars are the 
children of Atlas and Pleione, who were thus changed and 
permitted to shine for ever, because of their amiable vir- 
tues and mutual affection. 

THE THREE SISTERS. 

Of all the spiritual creations of the Indian, there is 
none more beautiful than the one concerning the guard- 
ians which they imagine to preside over their favorite 
vegetables, corn, beans, and squashes Each of these has 
a spirit, but a separate name is not given to each spirit. 
They have the forms of beautiful females, and are repre- 
sented as loving one another as sisters, and dwelling to- 
gether in perfect unity and happiness. The vines of these 
vegetables grow in the same soil, and often from the same 
hill, and cling lovingly around each other, and thus are 
true representatives of those who watch over them. The 
maidens are ever young, and are clothed with the leaves 
of the plants among which they dwell. She who is the 
guardian spirit of corn, has for her drapery the long 
tapering leaves of the maize, ornamented with its silken 
tassels, which also are bound in wreaths about her brow. 
She whose office it is to guard the bean, has her garments 
also of its leaves woven together by the delicate tendrils, 
with a crown of the velvet pods upon her head, inter- 
spersed with the blossom which precedes the fruit. The 



THE SPIRIT OF CORN. 135 

spirit of squashes is also clothed with the productions of 
the vine under her special care, and all the summer they 
flit about among the plants, and are called, De-o-ha-ho, 
Our Life, or Our Supporters. 

Corn, the Indians say, was once of easy culture, and 
yielded far more abundantly than now, the grain being 
very rich with oil. But the Evil Spirit being envious of 
this great gift of Ha-wen-ne-yu to man, went forth into 
the fields and spread over it a universal blight. Since 
then it has been more difficult to cultivate, and is without 
its original richness. 

When the rustling wind waves the corn leaves, pro- 
ducing a mournful sound, the pious Indian fancies he 
hears the spirit of corn, in her compassion for the red 
man, still bemoaning with unavailing regrets her blighted 
fruitfulness. 

I have here given but a few of the innumerable 
legends which are to be found among the Iroquois, 
hoping at some future day to devote a volume entirely to 
this subject. It may not be so interesting, or so valuable 
a contribution to literature as " Keightley's Fairy My- 
thology," and it may be many years before such a work 
will be truly appreciated, even by the antiquarian and the 
scholar ; but it may yet prove a mite in the vast treasure 
house of traditional lore, and will some day be considered 
not entirely unworthy a place beside the fairy castles of 
Merrie England, Scotia's sylvan temples, and the grottos 
of Italian nymphs. 




CHAPTER VIL 

A captive's life among INDIANS, ILLUSTRATED BY THE LIFE 
OF " THE WHITE WOMAN." 

To be taken captive by tbe Indians, was among the early 
colonists considered the most terrible of all calamities ; 
and it was indeed a fearful thing to become the victim of 
their revenge. But those who were enduring the actual 
sufferings of captives, or suffering still more from terror of 
uncertain evils, thought little of the provocation given by 
our own people. The innocent often suffered for the guilty, 
and however persevering the efforts of the government to 
be just, in its infancy, in a wild unknown country, it was 
impossible to control unprincipled marauders. Some atro- 
cious act was first committed by white men, which dro^e 
the Indian to retaliation, and thinking pale faces were all 
alike, he did not w^ait till the real offender fell into his 
hands. 

When the white men first came, the Indians looked upon 
them as superior beings. They were ready to worship 
Columbus and his little party, and all along on the coast, 
until their simple trust was outraged beyond endurance they 
welcomed the strangers — gave them food when they were 
hungry, and sheltered them when they were cold. It was 
not till their encroachments became alarming, that the In- 
dian asserted his rights, and if in all cases he had been as 
justly and kindly dealt with as by the Quakers of Penn- 
Bylvania, there would not have been so dark a record of sin 



TREATME.NT OF PRISONERS. 137 

and wrong, and torture. If none but men of principle 
had made treaties with them, and all whose duty it was to 
observe them, had kept their faith, revenge would not 
have come out so prominently in Indian character. 

But it was not in obedience to national policj'- that 
those who were taken in battle were put to the torture, 
and burned and flayed. The Six Nations had never found 
it necessary to build prisons and dig dungeons for their 
own people. If a man committed murder, they sometimes 
decided that he should die, and sometimes bade him flee 
far away where none who knew him could ever look upon 
his face. But crimes were so rare that they had no crim- 
inal code, and when they overcame their enemies, they 
either adopted them and treated them as friends, or put 
them immediately to death. 

White people have sometimes put Indians to death 
and oftener put them in dungeons to waste and starve, but 
it was no part of their practice to adopt them and call 
them brethren ! Had they sometimes done this, or sent 
them freely back to their friends unharmed, they might 
have conciliated where they only made more desperate. 

When families were bereaved, they sought to be re- 
venged on those who had bereaved them ; and when war- 
riors returned from battle, the prisoners were given up to 
tlie friends who were afflicted. With them alone it re 
mained to decide the fate of those who fell into their 
hands. If they chose, they adopted them in place of the 
husbands and brothers who were slain ; and if they so 
decided, they were put to death, and in any way they 
decreed. 

If the manner in which their friends had been killed 
was aggravating and greatly enraged them, they were very 
likely to decide upon torture, and inflicted it in a manner to 
produce the greatest suff'ering. But even in such cases 



138 THE IROQUOIS. 

they sometimes showed great magnanimity, and '• returned 
good for evil." 

Children were very often adopted, and by a solemn cere- 
mony received into a particular tribe, and evermore treated 
as one of their own people. We have been in the habit 
of listening to heart-rending stories of cruelties to captives, 
but captives who were adopted were never cruelly treated. 
Those who were immediately put to death experienced 
great suffering for a few hours, and those who were pre- 
served were subject to hardships which seemed to them 
unspeakable, but they were such as are necessarily inci- 
dent to Indian life. They had no written chronicles to 
tell to all future generations the wrongs and tortures to 
which they were subjected, but one who sits with them by 
their firesides, may have his blood frozen with horror at 
recitals of civilized barbarity. 

And there is one species of wrong, of which no captive 
woman of any nation had to complain when she was 
thrown upon the tender mercies of Indian warriors. Not 
among all the dark and terrible records which their ene- 
mies have delighted to emblazon, is there a single instance 
of the outrage of that delicacy which a pure-minded 
woman cherishes at the expense of life, and sacrifices not 
to any species of mere animal sufi'ering. Of what other 
nation can it be written, that their soldiers were not more 
terrible at the firesides of their enemies than on the battle 
field, with all the fierce engines of war at their command? 
To whatever motive it is to be ascribed, let this at least 
stand out on the pages of Indian history as an ever endu- 
ring monument to their honor. A little book, which pro- 
fesses to have been written for the sole purpose of record- 
ing and perpetuating Indian atrocities, and dwells upon 
them with infinite delight, alludes to this redeeming trait 
in Indian character, but attempts to ascribe it to the in- 



RESPECT TOWARDS WOMEN. 139 

fluence of superstition, as if it were necessary to find some 
evil or deteriorating motive for every thing noble or pleas- 
ing in Indian character. I have no doubt that it was 
quite revolting to the general sentiment in an Indian com- 
munity, to mingle their blood with that of a nation whom 
they looked up on as a race of evil spirits let loose, and I won- 
der that they should ever have received them, as they often 
did, into their families, and to their bosom friendships and 
confidences. But this hatred in other nations prompts to 
the very manifestation of which an Indian was never guilty. 
Their treatment of captives from among Indian nations 
was the same, and I know not that there has been any sat- 
isfactory solution of a characteristic which has been found 
among only one other civilized. Christian or barbarous na- 
tion. A wanderer among the western tribes once asked 
an Indian why they thus honored their women, and he said, 
" The Great Spirit taught them, and would punish them 
if they did not." Among the Germans there existed the 
same respect for woman, till they became civilized. There 
may have been some superstitious fear, mingled with a 
strong governing and controlling principle, but it is not on 
this account the less marvellous that whole nations, con- 
sisting of millions, should have been so trained religiously 
or domestically, that no degree of beaut}^ or fascination 
placed under their care, though hundreds of miles in the 
solitudes of the wilderness, should have tempted them 
from the strictest honor and the most delicate kindness. 

Mary Jewison was eighty years a resident among the 
Senecas, and in the early part of the time the forests had 
few clearings, and the comforts and the vices of white men 
prevailed but little among them. She was born on the 
ocean, with the billowy sea for her cradle and the tempest 
for her lullaby. Her parents emigrated from England to 
this country in 1742, and settled in the unfortunate vale 



140 THE IROQUOIS. 

of Wyoming, where date her first remembrances, which 
were of the woes that fell upon her family— the wail of the 
Borrow-stricken and the breaking of heart-strings. 

The last meal they took together was a breakfast, after 
which the father and three eldest brothers went into the 
field, and Mary, with the other little children, were play- 
ing not far from the house. They were suddenly startled 
by a shriek, and knew it must be from their mother. On 
running in, they found her in the hands of two Indians, 
who were holding her fast. A little boy ran to call his 
father, and found him also bound by another of the party, 
and his eldest brother lying dead upon the earth. The two 
others fled to Virginia, where they had an uncle, as Mary 
afterwards learned, and those who remained were made 
captive and hurried into the woods. 

All day they were obliged to march in single file over 
the rough, cold soil, with no time or permission for con- 
versation, and the lash often applied to quicken their 
steps. Night found them in the heart of the wilderness, 
surrounded by their strange captors, and all the horrors 
of Indian life or Indian death staring them in the face. 
They had no hope of mercy, whether permitted to live or 
condemned to die. 

The mother thought they would perhaps spare the 
children, but did not on this account take courage, for it 
seemed to her better that they should die, than live to 
become the companions of such a people, and grow up 
very probably to be like them. Mary was the only one 
old enough to understand her injunctions, and to her she 
was allowed to speak before they were separated for the 
night, and, as she feared, for ever. 

She said, " My daughter, you, I think, will be per- 
mitted to live ; but they will deprive you of your father 
and mother, and perhaps of your brothers and sisters, so 



STORY OF MARY JEWISON. 141 

that you will be alone. But endeavor in all things to 
please the Indians, and they will be more kind to you. 
Do not forget your own language, and never fail to repeat 
your catechism and the Lord's prayer every morning and 
evening while you live." This she promised to do, and 
having kissed her child, the mother was removed from her 
sight, and never more saw one of all the little party who 
were happy in the little cottage together only a few hours 
before. 

Mary was not permitted to ask concerning her friends, 
and only knew their fate by recognizing their scalps as 
they were prepared to dry. Her mother's she knew by 
the long sandy hair, which was neatly combed and braided. 
Her little brother had soft flaxen curls, which still retained 
their sunny hue, and hung in glossy waves over the edges 
of the hoop on which the skin was stretched. She could 
not restrain the tears, but dared utter no moan that she 
had been thus cruelly severed from all she loved. 

She must at this time have been ten years of age ; but 
it was less sad for her than if she had been older, for 
now she could easily assimilate her tastes to those of her 
new friends, and would naturally soon forget her home 
and the customs of her people. 

She was afterwards told, when she could understand 
the Indian language, that they should not have killed her 
parents if the captors had not been pursued, and that a 
little boy, who was the son of a neighbor, and was also 
taken, was given to the French, two of whom were of the 
party. 

In the marches of the Indians it was the custom for 
one to linger behind and poke up the grass with a stick, 
after a party had passed along, to conceal all traces of 
their foot-steps, so that a pursuit was seldom successful 
In deviating from a direct course, in order not to get lost, 



142 THE IROQUOIS. 

they noticed the moss upon the trees, which always grew 
thickest upon the north side, as the south side, being 
most exposed to the sun, became soonest dry. They also 
had some knowledge of the stars, and knew from the 
positions of certain clusters, that were to be seen at cer- 
tain seasons, which was east and which west. 

Mary was carried far down the Ohio, and found her 
captors to be a party of Shawanese, and by them she was 
adopted in place of two brothers, who had fallen in battle, 
and for whom the lamentations 'had not yet died away. 

The ceremony of adoption is very solemn, requiring 
the deliberations of a council and the formal bestowing 
of a name, as a sort of baptism, from which time the 
captive is not allowed to speak any language but the In- 
dian, and must in all things conform to Indian habits and 
tastes. 

It is the custom among them to give children a name 
which corresponds with the sports and dependence of 
childhood, and when they arrive at maturity, to change it 
for one that corresponds with the duties and employments 
of manhood and womanhood. The first name is given by 
the relatives, and afterwards publicly announced in council. 
The second is bestowed in the same way, and by this they 
are ever afterwards called, except on becoming a Sachem, 
and sometimes on becomiDg a chief or warrior, another is 
taken, and each denotes definitely the new position. Each 
clan, too, had its peculiar names, so that when a person's 
name was mentioned it was immediately known to what 
clan he belonged. 

A curious feature in the Indian code of etiquette is, 
that it is exceedingly impolite to ask a person his name, 
or to speak it in his presence. In the social circle and all 
private conversation, the person spoken of is described, if 
it is necessary to allude to him, as the person who sits 



STORY OF MARY JEWISON. 143 

there, or who lives in that house, or wears such a dress. 
If I ask a woman, whose husband is present, if that is 

Mr. P , she blushes, and stammers, and replies, " It 

is my child's father," in order to avoid speaking his name 
in his presence, which would offend him. On asking a 
man his name he remained silent ; not understanding the 
reason, the question was repeated, when he indignantly 
replied, " Do you think that I am an owl, to go about 
hooting my name every where?" the name of the owl 
in Seneca, corresponding exactly to the note he continu- 
ally utters. 

When Mary Jewison had been formally named De-he- 
wa-mis, they called her daughter and sister, and treated 
her in all respects as if she had been born among them 
and the same blood flowed in her veins ; or rather they 
were accustomed to be more kind to captives than to their 
own children, because they had not been inured to the 
same hardships. There was no difference in the caresses 
bestowed, no allusion was made to the child as if it be- 
longed to a hated race, and it never felt the want of 
affection. 

Mary said her tasks were always light, and every 
thing was done to win her love and make her happy. She 
now and then longed for the comforts of her cottage home, 
and wept at the thought of her mother's cruel death, but 
gradually learned to love the freedom of the forest, and 
to gambol freely and gayly with her Indian playmates. 
When she was named they threw her dress away, and 
clothed her in deer-skins and moccasins, and painted her 
face in true Indian style. She never spoke English in 
their presence, as they did not allow it; but, when alone, 
did not forget her mother's injunction, and repeated her 
prayer and all the words she could remember, thus re- 
taining enough of the language to enable her easily to 



144 THE IROQUOIS. 

recall it when slie should again return to civilized society, 
as she constantly indulged the hope of doing by an ex- 
change of captives. . 

But when she was fourteen years of age her mother 
selected for her a husband, to whom she was married 
according to Indian custom. His name was She-nin-jee, 
and though she was not acquainted with him previously, 
and of course had no affection for him, he proved not only 
an amiable and excellent man, but a congenial companion, 
whom she loved devotedly. He had all the noble qualities 
of the Indian, being handsome, and brave, and generous, 
and kind, and to her ever gentle and affectionate. 

Now she became thoroughly reconciled to Indian life, 
her greatest sorrow being the necessary absences of her 
husband on the war-path and hunting excursions. She 
followed the occupations of the women, and tilled the 
fields, dressed the skins, and gathered the fuel for the 
winter fires ; and though this seems to us unfeminine labor, 
it was performed at their leisure, and occupied very little 
of their time. 

When the hunters returned they were weary and pas- 
sive, and seldom were guilty of fault-finding, and so well 
did an Indian woman know her duty, that her husband 
was not obliged to make known his wants. Obedience 
was required in all respects, and where there was harmony 
and affection, cheerfully yielded ; and knowing as they did 
that separation would be the consequence of neglect of 
duty, and unkindness, there was really more self-control, 
and care about little things, than among those who are 
bound for life, weal and woe. love and hatred, kindness and 
cruelty. They did not agree to live together through 
good and through evil report, but only while they loved 
and confided in one another ; and they were therefore 



STORY OF MARY JEWISON. 145 

careful not to throw liglitlv away this confidence and 
affection. 

The labor of the field was performed in so systematic 
a manner, and by so thorough and wise a division of labor, 
that there were none of the jealousies and envyings which 
exist among those who wish to hoard, and are ambitious 
to excel in style and equipage ; and before the fire water 
came among them dissensions of any kind were almost un- 
known. This has been the fruitful source of all their 
woes. 

It was not till Mary became a mother that she gave 
up all longing for civilized society, and relinquished all 
hope of again returning to the abodes of white men. 
Now she had a tie to bind her which could not be broken. 
If she should find her friends they would not recognize 
her Indian husband, or consider her lawfully married ; 
they would not care to be connected by ties of blood to a 
people whom they despised. Her child would not be 
happy among those who looked upon, her as inferior, and 
she herself had no education to fit her for the companion- 
ship of white people. She looked upon her little 
daughter and said, " It is Sheninjee's, it is dearer to me 
then all things else. I could not endure to see her 
treated with aversion or neglect." 

But only a little while was she permitted this happi- 
ness — her daughter died, while yet an infant, and when 
Sheniujee was away. Again the feeling of desolation 
came over her young spirit, but all around her ministered 
in every way to her comfort, and became more than ever 
endeared to her heart. After a long absence Sheninjee 
returned, and she was again happy for many months. 
She had a son and named him from her father, to which no 
objection was made by her Indian friends, and her love 
for her husband became idolatry. In her eyes he seemed 
7 



146 THE IROQUOIS. 

every tiling noble and good,— she mourned his departure 
and longed for his return, for his affection prompted him 
to treat her with the gentle and winning kindness which 
is the spirit of true love alone. 

But ao-ain came the separation, and she must pass* 
another long winter alone. Hunting was the Indian's toil, 
and though they delighted in it. the pang of parting from 
his wife and little ones, made it a sacrifice, and spread a 
dark cloud over a long period of his life. And now it be- 
came dark indeed to Mary, for she waited long and She- 
ninjee came not. She put every thing in order in his 
little dwelling — she dressed new skins for his couch, and 
smoked venison to please his taste ; she made the fire 
bright to welcome him, hoping every evening when she 
lay down with her baby upon her bosom, that ere the 
morning sun the husband and father would gladden them 
by his smile, but in vain ; winter passed away, and the 
spring, and then came the sad tidings that he was dead. 
She was a widow and her child was fatherless. Very long 
and deeply did she mourn Sheninjee, for it seemed to her 
there was none like him ; but again the sympathies of his 
people created new links to bind her to them, and she 
said she could not have loved a mother or sister more 
dearly then she did those sho stood in this relationship 
to her, and soothed her by their loving words. 

Not for four years was she again urged to marry, and 
during this time there was an exchange of prisoners, and 
she had an opportunity to return to her kindred. She 
was left to do as she pleased. They told her she might 
go; but if she preferred to remain, she should still be 
their daughter and sister, and they would give her land 
for her own, where she might always dwell. Again she 
thought of the prejudice she should every where meet, and 
that she could never patiently listen to reproaches con- 



STORY OF MARY JEWISON. 147 

cerning her husbatid's people. It would not be believed 
that he was noble, because he was an Indian, — she should 
have no near relatives, and those she had might reject her 
if she should seek them. So she came to the final con- 
clusion, and never more sighed for the advantages or 
pleasures of civilized life. She came with the brothers of 
Sheninjee to the banks of the Genesee, where she resided 
the remaining seventy-two years of her life. 

Her second husband, Hiokatoo, she never learned to 
love. He was a chief and a warrior, brave and fearless, 
but though he was always kind to her, he was a man of 
blood. He delighted in deeds of cruelty and delighted 
to relate them, and now the fire-water had become com- 
mon, and the good were made bad and the bad worse, so 
that dissensions arose in families and in neighborhoods, 
and the happiness which had been almost without alloy, 
was no longer known among these simple people. 

She adds her testimony to that of all travellers and 
historians concerning the purity of their lives, having 
never herself received the slightest insult from an Indian, 
and scarcely knowing an instance of infidelity or im- 
morality. But when they had once tasted of the mad- 
dening draught, the thirst was insatiable, and all they had 
would be given for a glass of something to destroy their 
reason. Now they were indeed converted into fieuds and 
furies, and sold themselves to swift destruction. Hioka- 
too hesitated at no crime, and took pleasure in every 
thing that was dark and terrible, but this was a small 
trial compared to those which Mrs. Jewison was called 
upon to endure from the intoxication and recklessness of 
her sons. 

Her oldest, the son of Sheninjee, was murdered by 
John, the son of Hiokatoo, who afterwards murdered his 
own brother Jessee, and came to the same violent death 



148 THE IROQUOIS. 

himself by the hands of others. When they came to be in 
the midst of temptation there was no restraining principle, 
and even after they grew up, her house was the scene of 
quarrels and confusion in consequence of their intemper- 
ance, and she knew no rest, from fear of some calamity 
from the indulgence of their unbridled passions. 

The chiefs of the Seneca nation, to which her second 
husband belonged, gave her a large tract of land, and 
when it became necessary that it should be secured to her 
by treaty, she attended the council and plead her own 
case. The commissioners, without inquiring particularly 
concerning the dimensions of her lots, allowed her to make 
the boundaries, and when the document was signed, and 
she was in firm possession, it was found that she was the 
owner of nearly four thousand acres, of which only a deed 
in her own handwriting could deprive her. But though 
she was rich, she toiled not the less diligently, and forsook 
not the sphere of ivoinan in attending to the ways of her 
household ; and also true to her Indian education, she 
planted, and hoed, and harvested, retaining her Indian 
dress and habits, till the day of her death. 

During the revolutionary war, her house was made the 
rendezvous and head-quarters of British officers and In- 
dian chiefs, as her sympathies were entirely with her red 
brethren, and the cause they espoused was the one she pre- 
ferred to aid. It was in her power to sympathize with 
many a lone captive ; she always remembered her own an- 
guish at the prospect of spending her life in the wilderness 
the companion of Indians, and though she had learned to 
love instead of fearing them, and knew they were, as a 
people, deserving of respect and the highest honor, she un- 
derstood the feelings of those who knew them not. 

Her supplications procured the release of many from 



STORY OF MARY JEWISON. 149 

torture, and licr generous kindness clothed the naked and 
fed the starving. 

Lot by lot, and acre by acre, the Indians sold their 
lands, and at length the beautiful valley of the Genesee 
fell into the hands of the white man, except the domain 
of " The White Woman," as she was always called, which 
could not be given up without her consent. She refused 
at the time of the sale to part with her portion, but after 
the Indians removed to the Buffalo Ileservation, and she 
was left alone, thoufjh lady of the manor, and surrounded 
by white people, she preferred to take up her abode with 
those whom she now called her people. Most emphati- 
cally did she adopt the language of Ruth in the days of 
old — " Entreat me not to leave thee, or return from fol- 
lowing after thee, for whither thou goest I will go, and 
where thou lodgest I will lodge ; thy people shall be my 
people, and thy God my God. Where thou diest, I will 
die, and there will I be buried." 

She was as thoroughly Pagan as the veriest Indian who 
had never heard of God, and exclaimed with him, that 
their religion was good enough for her, and she desired no 
change. 

She was ninety years old — eighty years she had been 
an exile from the land of her birth — she had forgotten the 
prayers her mother taught her, and knew nothing of the 
worship of her fathers, when one morning she sent a mes- 
senger to tell the missionaries she wished to see them. 
She had ever before refused to listen to them if they 
came to her dwelling, but they hastened to obey the sum- 
mons, glad to feel that they should be welcome, though 
quite uncertain concerning the nature of the interview she 
proposed. She was literally withered away. Her face 
was scarcely larger than an infant's, and completely check- 
ered with fine wrinkles ; her teeth were entirely gone, and 



150 THE mOQUOTS. 

her mouth so sunken that her nose and chin almost met ; 
her hair not silvery, but snowy white, except a little lock 
by each ear, which still retained the sandy hue of child- 
hood ; her form, which was always slight, was bent, and 
her limbs could no longer support her. She had revived 
the knowledge of her language since she had dwelt among 
white people, but " Oh," said she, as the ladies entered, 
" I have forgotten how to pray ; my mother taught me, 
and told me never to forget this, though I remembered 
nothing else." And then she exclaimed, " Oh God, have 
mercy upon me !" This expression she had heard in her 
old age, and now uttered it in the fulness of her heart. 
There had come a gleam of light through all the dark 
clouds of superstition and Pagan blindness, and this spark 
was kindled at the fireside of that little cottage home, 
and fell upon her heart from a mother's lips, and now re- 
vived at the remembrance of a mother's love and her dying 
blessing. It was eighty years since she had seen that 
mother's face, as she breathed out her soul in anguish, 
bending over her in the silent depths of the wilderness — 
eighty years since she listened to " Our Father who art 
in Heaven," from Christian lips, and now the still small 
voice which had so long been hushed, spoke aloud, and 
startled her as if an angel called. She tried to stifle it, 
and for many days after it awoke in her bosom heeded it 
not, but it gave her no rest. No earthly voice had since re- 
minded her that her heart was sinful, and needed to be 
washed in order to be clean. The seed which had been 
sown in it when she was a little child had just sprung up — 
the snows of eighty winters had not chilled it — the mil- 
dews of nearly a century had not blighted it, and the 
heavy hand of a hundred calamities had left it unharmed. 
She had not been in the midst of corruptions, therefore it 



STOE,Y OF MARY JEWISON. 151 

had not been destroyed. The little germ was still alive, 
and proving that it had not been planted in vain. 

The aged woman sat pillowed up in bed with her 
children and children's children of three generations 
around her, and lifting her withered hands and sunken 
eyes to heaven, once more repeated, " Our Father, who 
art in heaven," while a new light, like a halo, overspread 
her face, tears flowed in floods down her cheeks, and in 
the dark eye of every listener there glistened the tear of 
sympathy in her new-found happiness. 

For many years she remembered her mother's injunc- 
tion, and repeated the words of the prayer and the cate- 
chism ; but as she became more thoroughly familiar with 
the language, and could join in the thanksgivings of her 
new people, she ceased to care for the faith of her fathers. 
Yet it was the connecting link between her and those who 
were called Christians, and the sole means of enabling 
her to revive and easily acquire the knowledge of her na- 
tive tongue. Without this the missionaries could not have 
communicated with her, as they had not then learned the 
Seneca, and those around her who understood both, cared 
very little, and knew scarcely more than she, of the Re- 
deemer of whom she wished to hear. 

When asked if she regretted that she had not con- 
sented to be exchanged, and returned to her mother's 
friends, she still said, no. She loved the Indians — she 
loved them better than white people. They had been 
kind to her, and provided generously for her youth and 
her old age, and her children would inherit an abundance 
from the avails of the lands and herds and flocks which 
were her sole possessions. Alas ! she did not know that 
the money she had deposited in the hands of the agent to 
be invested for the benefit of her family, was wickedly 
squandered by him, so that not a single cent ever reached 



152 THE IROQUOIS. 

their hands,* She was rich, but they were miserably 
poor, and he who thus defrauded her was of the same 
blood, and he&itated not to take advantage of her because 
she liad grown up among an unsuspicious people, who 
knew not how to redress their wrongs. Her adopted 
brethren had honored her above the women of their own 
nations — she had received good, and not evil, all the days 
of her life ; she belonged to a race they had every reason 
to hate — a race who had trampled them as their legend 
said the mammoth buffaloes trampled the forests in their 
march, and yet they had respected her, and loved her, 
and honored her. And hers was not the only instance 
of such kindness ; it is not she alone who bears testimony 
to their virtues, to their magnanimity, their truly Chris- 
tian spirit of forgiveness, their purity, their meekness, 
their long-suffering, and their brotherly love, ere they 
were wronged and contaminated by the vices of their 
enemies. 

A few days after the new light dawned upon her 
spirit, in the year 1833, Mrs. Jewison was numbered with 
the dead. She had embraced the faith which makes no 
difference between those who come at the first and the 
eleventh hour ; and those who were present at the disso- 
lution of soul and body, doubted not Jesus had whispered 
to her the same consolation that fell upon the heart of 
the thief upon the cross, " This day shalt thou be with 
me in Paradise." 

She was buried in the mission burial-ground, near 
Buffalo, where the dead are a strange concourse ; for it 
seems once to have been the site of an ancient fort, and 
afterwards to have become the repository of the dust of 

* This has since been refunded by the Government. 



THE DESERTED BABY. 153 

people of many nations, and is to the historian, the Chris- 
tian, and the traveller, an interesting spot. 

Not many years ago, the family of the mission were 
awakened from their midnight slumbers by the piteous 
cry of an infant. It was November, and the plaintive 
moan of the little one, mingled with the wailing of the 
night wind when all else was still, came with startling 
sadness to their ears. At first, they thought some lone 
mother, in her desolation, had come to them for relief, and 
hastened to open the door to the houseless wanderer. But 
when they looked out into the darkness, they could see 
nothing ; still the little voice came up, though it grew 
fainter, as if its strength was failing. Again they searched, 
and found upon the door-step a tiny band-box, in which 
was snugly curled a baby — a little baby ! All around 
was dark; there was no mother, no friend; the little 
thing was there alone — alone, unconscious of its loneliness. 

A little opening had been made in the top of the box, 
through which they peeped, and saw a tiny hand move, 
and then the blue eyes opened to the light ; but when 
they brought it to the fire it was stupefied by the eflects 
of cold and some drug it had taken to keep it quiet, and 
scarcely showed signs of life for a day. Then it awoke, 
and on its face there rested a smile that seemed a beam 
from heaven. Never more was it alone. Hearts had be- 
come linked to its little heart, and all the household looked 
upon it as a treasure and not a burden. Its coarse blanket 
and faded frock, proved that it had not been cast out 
from the dwellings of the rich, and the few words which 
were written on a torn and soiled bit of paper, in a fair 
hand, proved that its mother was not ignorant, though 
poverty-stricken. 

" Farewell my little baby ! Thy mother must desert 
thee, but may God take care of thee and find thee friends ! " 



154 THE IROQUOIS. 

Then it was blistered with tears, and placed among the 
folds of the blanket. 

Why did the mother thus desert her child ? Must its 
innocent name be stained by some dark sin ; or was it 
wretched poverty alone that drove her to such a sacrifice ? 
There had evidently been sundered a heart-string, and 
the bosom on which it was born to rest was neither cold 
nor hard. Yet it was a cast-away. 

That night a wagon was seen slowly winding its way 
toward the mission-house, and from a neighboring window 
observed to stop in front of the path that led to the door. 
At the same time a child, evidently very young, w^as heard 
distinctly to cry for a few moments, and then ceased, and 
the wagon moved on toward the great city. This is all 
its new-found friends ever learned concerning it. But it 
became a very sunbeam in their dwelling, and was beautiful 
as a cherub. Its ruby lips never failed to curl with that 
same sunny smile, whenever the tones of a pleasant voice 
fell on its ear, and its gleeful playfulness awoke in every 
heart an echo. But it was one of those bright leaves 
which decay and dazzle and then depart. 

Those upon whose hands it was thrown, helpless and 
dependent, thought, how could they keep and nourish it ? 
They too, were poor, and it would be a burden. 

In less than a year, the bright flower faded and died. 
Twined around it was every heart-string, and it had found 
a nestling place in every bosom, when it grew cold, and 
shut its eyes on them for ever. They must wrap it in a 
shroud, and give it back to earth. 

To show their love, they made its grave beneath a 
spreading walnut, where the green mound would be shel- 
tered from the burning sun, and the footsteps of love 
might linger, and the heart-broken water it with their 
tears. 



MISSION BURIAL GROUND. 155 

The sod was removed and the dark earth thrown up, 
and soon they came to the crumbling bones of a man. It 
was probably a warrior's grave. But they laid the little 
strange baby upon his breast, and covered them, to be 
again disturbed perhaps in some far-off century, by an- 
other people and ruder hands. 

Near by is another little one, whose grandfather was 
taken captive nearly a century before on the banks of the 
Juniata ; whose mother and grandmother were Indian 
women, and who was given when an infant to the mission 
family to be their own. It was a little girl, whom they 
named Louisa Maria, and who, though she died in early 
childhood, lived long enough to become a bud of promise, 
yes, a blossom of Christian love, and hope, and faith, a 
lamb of Christ's flock. She belonged to the class of those 
who always die in infancy, " whose names are all on grave- 
stones." They are perfected without the discipline of 
earth's trials, and transplanted to bloom as spring flowers 
in the gardens above. Life would be a dreary pathway 
without the little ones, and there would be discord in the 
heavenly choir without the soft melody of infant voices. 
A little while before she died, lying still upon the bed, 
there came a sweet smile upon her face, and she said, " I 
see them, ma, angels, angels all round me, come to carry 
me away ! " and then she kissed each friend as if she 
were bidding them good-by, to return again, and imme- 
diately soared away where angel-children dwell. 

In the same inclosure, under the same spreading tree, 
was buried a little Indian boy, whose mother had been 
long a member of the mission church. 

It was a cold day in January when he came in a little 
sad from his play, and said, " Mother, I do not feel well; 
will you take care of me ? " 



156 THE IROQUOIS. 

His motlier was busy and did not answer, and soon he 
said again, " Will you put your hand upon my head, 
mother ; it aches ? I think I shall be sick and die ; but 
I shall go to heaven, where God lives, and be happy." 

He had never before talked of death, and it was not 
known that he had ever particularly thought of it. But 
now he often said, " I am going to Jesus, you must give 
lip me^ mother. I am not afraid, I am happy." A quick 
consumption soon wasted his form and destroyed the 
bloom upon his rosy cheek, but he thought only of the 
bright world to which he was going. 

Their home was a rude Indian cabin, but the mother 
was a refined Christian woman. She knew not how to 
read, but she had learned the language of prayer. Her 
heart, too, was swelling with a mother's love. She knew 
not how to give him up. A few moments before he died, 
in great distress he said, '' Now mother, pray." She knelt 
alone beside him, and in her own rich language poured 
out her heart to God. "When she had finished he said, 
" Some one has come in — how pleasant he looks." No 
one had entered, but still he gazed as if looking upon 
some beautiful object, then slowly drooped the lid over 
the brightly-kindled eye, and he was gone. 

In the gateway of this entrance to the city of the dead 
was buried a distinguished pagan chief, and all around sleeps 
the dust of Indian warriors and chiefs, sad relics of those 
who fell in bloody battles long before the red man has 
any tradition concerning the spot. Here, too, are many 
captives, borne from Christian firesides in childhood, to 
become the brethren of the children of the wilderness, and 
be laid to rest away from their kindred in a strange land, 
and here are old men and aged women who, at the 
eleventh hour, came up to labor in the vineyard of the 
Lord. 



MISSION BURIAL GROUND. 



157 



An old lady used to come tottering to meeting when 
it seemed impossible her feeble limbs could support her. 
When surprise was expressed that she should come when 
the weather was cold, and she had so far to walk, she said 
with great earnestness, '" Oh ! I shall always come as 
long as I can get here, and when my poor body is too 
feeble to attempt it longer, / shall how my head this loay 
as often as the season of prayer returns.''^ 

Her dust is now mingling with the strange group in 
this strange place, and yet it is still but a few years since 
the messengers of a better faith came among them. The 
fruits have been rich and abundant, among those who be- 
longed to the generation already passed away, and among 
those who are still living useful and honored in the Church 
and the community, rejoicing the hearts of those who 
have diligently and faithfully labored, as stewards of 
Him who is Lord of the vineyard, and who sent them 
forth. 

May they live to see the wilderness become a fruitful 
field, and the desert a garden under their fostering care, 
and richly will they be rewarded when they too shall 
cross over Jordan. 




CHAPTER VIII. 

ELOQUENCE AMONG THE IROQUOIS RED JACKET, OR 

SA-GO-YE-AVAT-HA. 

Bravery and every warlike trait, characterized all the 
Indian races, but oratory was heard only among the Iro- 
quois ; and the Forum in the palmy days of Rome, the 
Parliament-house of England, or the Senate-chamber at 
Washington, never echoed more thrilling strains than the 
sylvan temple in which were assembled the red children 
of the wilderness, to listen to the eloquence of their most 
distinguished Chief, Sa-go-ye-wat-ha, — or as his people 
were accustomed to call him, the " Young Prince of the 
Wolf Clan," — in the days when trials and bitter wrongs 
stirred the deepest and the loftiest emotions in the bosom 
of the untutored Indian. 

The name which Red Jacket received in his infancy 
was 0-te-tiana, and signified Always ready. Accord- 
ing to the custom of his people, when he became chief he 
took another, Sa-go-ye-wat-ha, which means He keeps 
THEM AWAKE. The insignificant one which he always 
bore after his acquaintance with white people, was given 
him on account of the red jacket in which he was always 
seen, and which was presented him by a British officer as 
a reward for some special service. It was richly em- 
broidered, and he took great pride in wearing it. When 
one was worn out, another was presented him, so that it 
became a mark to distinguish him, and acquired him the 
name. 




KEl) .lACKE'l". 



RED JACKET. 159 

As the government and whole construction of the 
Iroquois confederacy was a pure democracy, few were 
born to titles. All honors must be earned. Sometimes 
families gained a kind of distinction by their wisdom in 
council, or their bravery in war, as did that of Brandt, 
the great Mohawk chief; but Red Jacket had an humble 
origin, even in the estimation of his own people. 

His birth-place was Canoga, west of Cayuga Lake, in 
1750. It has been the universal testimony of books that 
he was a coward ; and this inference has been drawn very 
naturally, perhaps, from the fact that he opposed war, and 
seldom wielded the tomahawk. But the old men of his 
nation who knew him, and the motives from which he 
acted, deny the charge. The Mohawk Chieftain held 
him in great contempt, and was in the habit of repeating 
various anecdotes to bring his courage into disgrace 
among his people. Among the old men now living who 
knew him, there are many who assert that he was brave, 
and not at all lacking in the qualities they admire in the 
warrior. They assign other reasons for his persevering 
opposition to war, and maintain that his superior sagacity 
led him to see the consequences of war to the Indian. In 
the Revolutionary contest, the red men enlisted on the 
side of the British, believing it to be for their interest. 
They could not understand any thing of the real nature 
of the controversy between the two rival powers, and 
were justifiable in studying their own interest alone. 
When the war was over, they saw themselves deprived 
of their territory, and obliged still to flee before their 
pursuers. The Mohawks removed to Canada, and the 
remnants of the other nations fell back to Western New 
York. Red Jacket saw that the Indians were only used 
as instruments for promoting the interest of the white 
men. Why should they be torn asunder and scattered to 



160 THE IROQUOIS. 

the four winds, in order to fight the battles of their ene- 
mies ? Their warriors fought and bled, but what was 
their reward ? To be driven from the land they defended. 
Let them alone, said the wise man and the orator. Let 
us remain upon our lands and take care of ourselves. So 
they called him coward ; but when his prophecies had 
been fulfilled, they saw the wisdom of his decrees. He 
saw the end from the beginning, but with all his eloquence 
he could not stay the tide which was swallowing them up. 
He was a Cayuga on his father's side, and the Cayugas 
claim to have been a thoughtful and far-seeing people. 
His eloquence has never been disputed ; and that he was 
an ORATOR, was his own peculiar pride and boast. 

Cicero was accused of cowardice, and Csesar was cer- 
tainly timid, and both were charged with treachery ; but 
their voices have echoed through the world. Red Jacket 
has been placed side by side with them on this platform, 
and had he spoken a language which the learned could 
understand and correctly translate, his fame might have 
equalled theirs. 

It is asserted by others that an orator must necessa- 
rily be a coward. His is a moral courage alone ; and the 
enthusiasm, emotion, and fine feeling which are necessary 
to the orator, make physical courage and strong nerves 
impossible. It is not necessary to ascribe every species 
of greatness to one man, and Red Jacket had plenty of 
gifts without those which constitute the warrior. 

Of his childhood we, of course, know nothing ; and 
like many another, he owed his celebrity to the troublous 
times in which he lived. The powers of the orator can 
only be exhibited' on occasions of great interest ; and the 
mighty intellect of Red Jacket could not have exercised 
itself upon theology, or law, or philosophy, for the Indian 
was a stranger to all these things. 



PLEA OF THE WOMEN. 161 

One of the first forensic efi'orts of the young Chief 
was in behalf of the women of his people, who, as I have 
Baid, were permitted to exert their influence in all public 
and important matters. In the year 1791, when Wash- 
ington wished to secure the neutrality of the Six Nations, 
a deputation was sent to treat with them, but was not 
favorably received, as many of the young Chiefs were for 
war and sided with the British. The women, as is usual, 
preferred peace, and argued that the land was theirs, for 
they cultivated and took care of it, and, therefore, had a 
right to speak concerning the use that should be made of 
its products. They demanded to be heard on this occa- 
sion, and addressed the deputation first themselves in the 
following words : " Brother : — The Great Ruler has 
spared us until a new day to talk together ; for since you 
came here from General Washington, you and our uncles 
the Sachems have been counselling together. Moreover, 
your sisters, the women, have taken the same into great 
consideration, because you and our Sachems have said so 
much about it. Now, that is the reason we have come to 
say something to you, and to tell you that the Great 
Ruler hath preserved you, and that you ought to hear and 
listen to what we, women, shall speak, as well as the 
Sachems ; for we are the owners of this land, and it is 
OURS ! It is we that plant it for our and their use. Hear 
us, therefore, for we speak things that concern us and our 
children ; and you must not think hard of us while our 
men shall say more to you, for we have told them." 

They then designated Red Jacket as their speaker, 
and he took up the speech of his clients as follows : 

" Brothers from Pennsylvania : — You that are sent 
from General Washington, and by the thirteen fires ; you 
have been sitting side by side with us every day, and the 



162 THE IROQUOIS. 

Great Ruler has appointed us another pleasant day to 
meet again. 

" Now LISTEN, Brothers : — You know it has been the 
request of our head warriors, that we are left to answer 
for our women, who are to conclude what ought to be 
done by both Sachems and warriors. So hear what is 
their conclusion. The, business you come on is very 
troublesome, and we have been a long time considering 
it ; and now the elders of our women have said that our 
Sachems and warriors must help you, for the good of 
them and their children, and you tell us the Americans 
are strong for peace. 

'• Now, all that has been done for you, has been done 
by our women : the rest will be a hard task for us ; for 
the people at the setting sun are bad people, and you have 
come in too much haste for such great matters of im- 
portance. And now, Brothers, you must look when it 
is light in the morning, until the setting sun, and you 
must reach your neck over the land to take in all the 
light you can to show the danger. And these are the 
words of our women to you, and the Sachems and warri- 
ors who shall go with you. 

" Now, Brother from Pennsylvania and from General 
Washington, I have told you all I was directed. Make 
your minds easy, and let us throw all care on the mercy 
of the Great Keeper, in hopes that he will assist us." 

So there was peace instead of war, as there would 
often be if the voice of woman could be heard ! and 
though the Seneeas, in revising their laws and customs, 
have in a measure acceded to the civilized barbarism of 
treating the opinions of women with contempt, where their 
interest is equal, they still cannot sign a treaty without 
the consent of two thirds of the mothers ! 

On another occasion the women sent a message, which 



INDIAN SUPERSTITIONS. 163 

Red Jacket delivered for them, sayiug that they fully 
concurred in the opinion of their Sachems, that the white 
people had been the cause of all the Indians' distresses. 
The white people had pressed and squeezed them together, 
until it gave them great pain at their hearts. One of the 
white women had told the Indians to repent ; and they 
now, in turn, called on the white people to repent — they 
having as much need of repentance as the Indians. They, 
therefore, hoped the pale-faces would repent and wrong 
the Indians no more. 

At the termination of hostilities between the United 
States and Great Britain, the Indians, who were the allies 
of the English, were left to take care of themselves as 
best they could. Though they had fought desperately in 
their own way, and inflicted every species of sufi"ering 
upon our people, Washington extended to them the hand 
of friendship and offered them protection. His kindness 
won him the gratitude of the Indian, and procured for 
him a boon they have bestowed upon no other white man, 
except William Penn. He is peruiitted to enter para- 
dise, though not within the sacred inclosure where the 
red man dwells. Near the entrance to Heaven is fitted 
up a beautiful garden, where bloom the most beautiful 
flowers, and the grandest trees of the forest wave their 
boughs. In this glorious Eden, Washington is the only 
inhabitant, and walks to and fro in the flowery paths, 
dressed in his soldier's uniform, and perfectly happy, 
though no word ever passes his lips. The Indian, on his 
way to his own Heaven, is permitted to look upon the 
man whom the Great Spirit has thus honored, but no 
sign of recognition is made, as nothing must disturb his 
meditations, or mar the perfect felicity which he is to en- 
joy through eternity in his celestial residence. 

Though we hope he has gone to a happier and more 



164 THE IROQUOIS. 

deligbtful abode than this, the Indian has conferred upon 
him the greatest honor it was in his imagination to con- 
ceive, and the highest proof of his confidence in his good- 
ness and belief in his benevolence ; and it is gratifying to 
us to record this of our beloved Washington, among all 
the wrongs which this simple people have to relate con- 
cerning those in whose power it was to awaken similar 
emotions, and who preferred to fill them with indignation 
and revenge. 

Red Jacket was one of fifty Chiefs who went to con- 
fer with Washington at the seat of government, where 
they were treated with great attention, and professed to 
be satisfied with the provisions made for their people, and 
to be convinced that peace and civilization were now their 
only hope. 

When they were about to leave, Washington presented 
Red Jacket with a large silver medal, bearing his own 
likeness, which he wore till his death, and of which be 
was very proud. During this visit, Greneral Knox pre- 
sented each of the Chiefs with a military suit of clothes, 
with a cocked hat as worn by the officers. When Red 
Jacket's suit was ofi'ered him, he said, as he was not a 
war Chief he could not consistently wear such a dress, 
and requested that a different suit might be given him, 
more suitable to his station. But when the plain dress 
was brought, he declined giving up the regimentals, 
coolly remarking, that though as a Sachem he could not 
wear a military uniform in time of peace, yet in time of 
war the Sachems joined the warriors, and he would, 
therefore, keep it till war broke out, when he could assume 
a military dress with propriety. 

Once on being invited, with several of his people, to 
dine at the house of an officer, he ate very voraciously of 
many kinds of meat ; and seeing the surprise of the host. 



RED JACKET. 165 

he remarked that he belonged to the Wolf Clan, and 
"wolves were always fond of meat." 

" I am an orator; I was born an orator," was all the 
boast Red Jacket could make with the certainty of being 
at that time appreciated ; and to all future generations 
his name will descend, enrolled on the list with Demos- 
thenes and Cicero in ancient, and Pitt and Randolph and 
Webster in modern times ; and though a Pagan, and be- 
longing to a rude, uncultivated race, his vices were no 
greater than those of men who lived all their lives under 
Christian influences, and professed to be believers in the 
pure gospel of the Redeemer, and to govern their lives 
by His holy will and example. 

He strenuously opposed every effort to introduce 
Christianity among his people, for he could not under- 
stand how it could be so valuable or necessary, when he 
saw how little it influenced the conduct of white men, and 
the wrongs they inflicted in the name of their God upon 
the red man. He could not make the distinction between 
those who possessed religion and those who professed it ; 
and as he came in contact with very few who walked up- 
rightly, he naturally concluded that a religion which did 
no more for its followers was not worth adopting. He 
believed that the Great Spirit had formed the red and 
white man distinct ; that they could no more be of one 
creed than one color ; and when the wars were over and 
there was nothinor more for them to do, he wished to be 
separated entirely from white men, and return as much 
as possible to their old customs. 

He saw his people wasting away before the pale-faces, 
as he once said in a speech before a great assemblage : 

" We stand a small island in the bosom of the great 
waters. We are encircled, — we are encompassed. The 
Evil Spirit rides upon the blast, and the waters are dis 



166 THE IROQUOIS. 

turbed. They rise, they press upon us, and the waves 
once settled over us, we disappear for ever. "Who, then, 
lives to mourn us ? None ! What marks our extermina- 
tion ? Nothing ! We are mingled with the common 
elements." 

If historians have rightly judged, the first missionaries 
sent among the Senecas were not very judicious, and did 
not take the wisest course to make their religion accepta- 
ble to any people, and especially to a wronged and out- 
raged race. 

In 1805, a young missionary was sent into the country 
of the Six Nations, by the name of Cram. A council 
was called to consider whether to receive him, and after 
he had made an introductory speech. Red Jacket made 
the following reply : 

"Friend and Brother: — It was the will of the 
Great Spirit that we should meet together this day. He 
orders all things, and has given us a fine day for our 
council. He has taken his garment from before the sun, 
and caused it to shine with brightness upon us. For all 
these things we thank the Great Ruler, and Him oyilyl 

'' Brother : — This council-fire was kindled by you. 
It was at your request that we came together at this time. 
We have listened with joy to what you have said. You 
requested us to speak our minds freely. This gives us 
great joy, for we now consider that we stand upright be- 
fore you and can speak what we think. All have heard 
your voice, and can speak to you as one man. Our minds 
are agreed. 

" Brother : — Listen to what we say. There was a 
time when our forefathers owned this great island. Their 
seats extended from the rising to the setting sun. The 
Great Spirit had made it for the use of Indians. He 
had created the bufi"alo, the deer, and other animals for 



ELOQUENCE OF RED JACKET. 167 

food. He had made the bear and the beaver. Their 
skins served us for clothing. He had scattered them over 
the country, and taught us how to take them. He had 
caused the earth to produce corn for bread. All this He 
had done for His red children, because He loved them. 
If we had some disputes about our hunting-ground, they 
were generally settled without the shedding of much 
blood. But an evil day came upon us. Your forefatli^rs 
crossed the great water, and landed upon this island. 
Their numbers were small. They found friends, and not 
enemies. They told us the}^ had fled from their own 
country on account of wicked men, and had come here to 
enjoy their religion. They asked for a small seat. "We 
took pity on them, granted their request, and they sat 
down amongst us. We gave them corn and meat ; they 
gave us poison (rum) in return. 

" The white people. Brother, had now found our 
country. Tidings were carried back, and more came 
amongst us. Yet we did not fear them. We took them 
to be friends. They called us brothers ; we believed 
them, and gave them a larger seat. At length their num- 
bers had greatly increased. They wanted more land ; 
they wanted our country. Our eyes were opened, and 
our minds became uneasy. Wars took place. Indians 
were hired to fight against Indians, and many of our peo- 
ple were destroyed. They also brought strong liquor 
amongst us. It was strong and powerful, and has slain 
thousands. 

" Brother : — Our seats were once large, and yours 
were small. You have now become a great people, and 
we have scarcely a place left to spread our blankets. 
You have got our country, but are not satisfied ; you want 
to force your religion upon us. 

'' Brother : — Continue to listen. You say that you 



168 THE IROQUOIS. 

are sent to instruct us how to worship the G-reat Spirit 
agreeably to his mind ; and if we do not take hold of the 
relio-ion which you white people teach, we shall be unhap- 
py hereafter. You say that you are right, and we are 
lost. How do we know this to be true ? We understand 
that your religion is written in a book. If it was in- 
tended for us as well as you, why has not the Great Spirit 
given to us — and not only to us, but to our forefathers — 
the knowledge of that book, with the means of under- 
standing it rightly? We only know what you tell us 
about it. How shall we know when to believe, being so 
often deceived by the white people 7 

" Brother : — You say there is but one way to worship 
and serve the Great Spirit. If there is but one religion, 
why do you white people differ so much about it ? AYhy 
not all agree, as you can all read the book ? 

" Brother : — We do not understand these things. 
We are told that your religion was given to your fore- 
fathers, and has been handed down from father to son. 
We, also, have a religion which was given to our fore- 
fathers, and has been handed down to us, their children. 
We worship in that way. It teaches us to be thankful 
for all the favors we receive ; to love each other, and be 
united. We never quarrel about religion. 

" Brother •. — We do not wish to destroy your religion 
or take it from you; we only want to enjoy our own. 

" Brother : — We have been told that you have been 
preaching to the white people in this place. These peo- 
ple are our neighbors. We arc acquainted with them. 
We will wait a little while, and see what effect your 
preaching has upon them. If we find it does them 
good, makes them honest, and less disposed to cheat 
Indians, we will then consider again of what you have 
said. 



ELOQUENCE OF RED JACKET. 169 

Brother : — You have now heard our talk, and this is 
all we have to say at present. As we are going to part, 
we will come and take you by the hand, and hope the 
G-reat Spirit will protect you on j^our journey, and return 
you safe to your friends." 

According to the suggestion of their orator, the In- 
dians moved forward to shake hands with the missionary ; 
but he refused, saying, '• There was no fellowship between 
the religion of God and the Devil." Yet the Indians 
smiled and retired peacefully. 

At another time Red Jacket said, " The white people 
were not content with the wrongs they had done his peo- 
ple, but wanted to Cram their doctrines down their 
throats." 

In a conversation with a distinguished clergyman, who 
was endeavoring to instruct him on the subject of the 
Christian religion, not many years before his death, Red 
Jacket said : 

'• Brother : — If you white men murdered the Son of 
the G-reat Spirit, we Indians had nothing to do with it, 
and it is none of our affair. If he had come among us, 
we would not have killed him ; we would have treated 
him well ; and the white people who killed him, ought to 
be damned for doing it. You must make amends for that 
crime yourselves." 

On being invited to see the bridge across Niagara 
after it was finished, he walked across it and examined 
every part, evidently struck with admiration at the skill 
and science displayed in the building ; and when he was 
about to depart, gazed for a moment with an expression 
no language can convey, and slowly uttered these two 
words : '• D d Yankee ! " 

Another attempt was made, several yes^rs after the 
first; to introduce missionaries among his people ; but no 

8 



170 THE IROQUOIS. 

argument or persuasion could induce him to look upon 
Christianity with favor. 

In another eloquent speech, he painted in glowing 
colors the curse that seemed to have descended upon all 
those Indians who had been made the object of pious but 
mistaken missions. "How imbecile, poor, effeminate, 
contemptible, drunken, lying, thieving, cheating, mali- 
cious, meddlesome, backbiting, quarrelsome, degraded and 
despised, the victims of civilized instruction had become ; 
having lost all the noble qualities of the Indian, and ac- 
quired all the ignoble vices of the white people ; " and 
then adds : 

*' Brother : — On the other hand, we know that the 
Great Spirit is pleased that we follow the traditions of 
our fathers ; for in so doing we receive his blessing. The 
Great Spirit has provided abundance. When we are 
hungry, we find the forest filled with game ; when 
thirsty, we slake our thirst at the pure streams and 
springs that spread around us ; when weary, the leaves of 
the trees are our bed — we retire with contentment to 
rest — we rise with gratitude to the great Preserver. No 
luxuries, no vices, no disputed titles, no avaricious de- 
sires shake the foundations of our society, or disturb our 
peace and happiness. 

" Brother : — We pity you. We wish you to bear to 
our good friends our best wishes. Inform them, that in 
compassion to them we are willing to send them mission- 
aries to teach them our religion, our habits, and our cus- 
toms. We would be willing they should be as happy as 
we, and assure them if they will follow our example, they 
would be far more happy than they are now. 

" Accept this advice, Brother, and take it back to 
your friends as the best pledge of our wishes for your 
welfare. Perhaps you think we are ignorant and imin- 



THE MISSIONARIES. 171 

formed. Go, then, and teach the white people. Select, 
for example, the people of Buffalo. Improve their morals 
and refine their habits. Make them less disposed to 
cheat Indians. Make the white people generally loss 
disposed to make Indians drunk, and to take from them 
their lands. Let us know the tree by the blossoms, and 
the blossoms by the fruit. When this shall be made clear 
to our minds, we may be more walling to listen to you. 

" Brother : — Farewell." 

'• A terrible and bitter satire ! " and though entirely 
unjust as far as true religion is concerned, it is quite un- 
answerable to a heathen mind, and is a stumbling-block 
in the way of many in enlightened communities. 

It was pagan white people who poisoned the mind of 
the great Chief, and prejudiced him against the mission- 
aries and their religion. He thought them the enemies 
of his people ; and those whose interest it was to deceive 
him, so thoroughly blinded and bewildered him, that he 
came very near being the destroyer, rather than the sa- 
viour, of the little remnant of his race. They, knowing 
that the missionaries were the true friends of the Indian, 
and understood their own evil machinations, wished to 
banish them from the lands. A law w^as passed that no 
white people should settle upon the Reservations^ to 
which the Indians had been removed, and which had 
been secured to them by law and treaty ; and though it 
was no part of the design that missionaries and teachers 
should be excluded, the companies who wished to obtain 
the lands and drive the Indians beyond the Mississippi, 
took advantage of the law, and urged the pagan Chiefs to 
insist upon their departure. In order to obey the strict 
letter of the law. they were obliged to go. As soon as 
the law could be revised, they returned again ; and there 
are few now, among Chiefs or people, who do not recog- 



172 THE IROQUOIS. 

nize them as their best friends, and acknowledge their 
influence to be for their true interest, temporal as well as 
spiritual ; and they are fast becoming so enlightened by 
the Gospel and by universal education, through their un- 
tiring zeal, as to be in no future danger from designing 
and unprincipled speculators. 

Before he died. Red Jacket began to discriminate 
truly between his friends and foes, and to understand the 
disinterested friendship of the missionaries. 

He had always great confidence in the Quakers; 
owing, we presume, to the fact that no land-shark ever 
belonged to this sect. In their early intercourse with the 
Indians, they were, fortunately, more judicious in the 
measures they took towards advancing them in all the 
arts of cultivated life. As the great Chief once said : 
" They give ns ploughs, and show us how to use them ; 
they counsel us in our troubles, and instruct us how to 
make ourselves comfortable ; they do us great good — we 
are satisfied with what they do." 

Witchcraft was punishable with death by the laws of 
the Six Nations, and it often happened that persons were 
accused of exercising the powers of sorcery upon indi- 
viduals, when sickness could be accounted for in no other 
way, and their arts produced no effect in healing. A 
case of this kind was the occasion of one of Red Jacket's 
most sarcastic speeches. 

A woman was accused of causing the death of an In- 
dian, whose lingering illness they could not understand, 
and by their laws condemned to die. He who was ap- 
pointed to be her executioner, faltered in the hour of 
trial, and another, who was more bold, stepped forward 
and drew the knife across her throat. The Indians were 
not subject to the laws of the United States as far as 
their own internal affairs were concerned, and had the 



WITCHCRAFT. 173 

right to administer justice as they pleased ; but some of 
their neighbors, being shocked at these summary proceed- 
ings, arrested the murderer and put him in prison. A 
trial was had, and every eifort made to procure the con- 
demnation, and of course the hanging, of the accused, 
whose name was Tommy Jemmy ; but the Indians in- 
sisted that the woman had been as judicially condemned 
and executed as Tommy Jemmy would be if he was 
given up to them, and if it was murder in the one case, 
it would be murder in the other. 

Red Jacket, seeing that their belief in witches was 
the theme of ridicule, answered in these words : 

'' What ! do you denounce us as fools and bigots, be- 
cause we still believe what you yourselves believed only 
two centuries ago ? Your black-coats thundered this doc- 
trine from the pulpit ; your judges pronounced it from 
the bench, and sanctioned it with the formalities of law, 
and you would now punish our unfortunate brother for 
adhering to the faith of his fathers and of yours ! Go to 
Salem ! Look at the records of your own government, 
and you will find that hundreds have been executed for 
the very crime which has called forth the sentence of con- 
demnation against this woman, and drawn down upon her 
the arm of vengeance. What have our brothers done 
more than the rulers of your people have done ? And 
what crime has this man committed, by executing in a 
summary way the laws of his country and the command 
of the Great Spirit ? " 

It is said his looks were far more terrible than his 
words ; and his eye, when aroused by indignation, was 
fearful in its blaze. He gained his cause, and the pris- 
oner was liberated. 



174 THE IROQUOIS. 



CHAPTER IX. 

SARCASM AND SAGACITY RED JACKET, OR SA-GO-YE-\VAT-HA. 

An interestiDg interview is related in Mr. Stone's Life 
of Red Jacket, as having taken place between Rev. Dr. 
Breckenbridge and the great Indian orator, and I transfer 
it, as given by this author, in the words of him who 
wrote it : 

" The first opportunity I ever enjoyed of seeing that 
deservedly celebrated Indian Chief, Red Jacket, was in 
the year 1821, at the residence of General Porter, Black 
Rock, New York. Being on a visit to the General and 
his family, it seemed a peculiarly fit occasion to become 
acquainted with the great Seneca orator, whose tribe re- 
sided within a few miles of Black Rock. General Porter 
embraced the Indian warriors who fought with us on that 
line during the late war with Great Britain in his com- 
mand. From this cause — from his high character — his 
intimate acquaintance with the Chiefs, and his known at- 
tachment to those interesting people, he had great influ- 
ence over them ; and his lamented lady, who, it is not 
indelicate for me to say, was my sister, had by her kind- 
ness won the rugged hearts of all their leading men. So 
that their united influence, and my near relationship to 
them, secured to me at once access to the Chiefs and their 
entire confidence. 



INTERVIEW WITH RED JACKET. 175 

" I had not only a great desire to see Red Jacket, but 
also to use this important opportunity to correct some of 
his false impressions in regard to Christianity and the 
missionaries established in his tribe. To this end it was 
agreed to invite Red Jacket and the other Chiefs of the 
Senecas to visit Co-na-shus-tah, and meet his brother at 
his house. The invitation was accordingly given, and 
very promptly and respectfully accepted. 

" On the appointed day they made their appearance in 
due form, headed by Red Jacket, to the number of ei^ht 
or ten besides himself. He wore a blue dress, the u^er 
garment cut after the fashion of a hunting-shirt, with 
blue leggins, a red jacket, and a girdle of red about his 
waist. I have seldom seen a more dignified or noble 
looking body of men than the entire group. It seems — 
though no such impression was designed to be conveyed 
by the terms of the invitation — that some indefinite ex- 
pectation had been excited in their minds of meeting an 
official agent on important business. And they have 
been so unworthily tampered with, and so badly treated 
by us, as a people, and many of their most important 
treaties have been so much the result of private and cor- 
rupting appeals, that they very naturally looked for some 
evil design in every approach to them, however open and 
simple it may be. So it was on this occasion. As soon 
as the ceremonies of introduction were over, with the 
civilities growing out of it, the old orator seated himself 
in the midst of the circle of Chiefs, and after a word 
with them, followed by a general assent, he proceeded in 
a very serious and commanding manner — always speaking 
in his own nervous tongue, through an interpreter — to 
address me, in substance, as follows : 

" ' \Ye had a call from our good friends (pointing to 
the General and his lady), to come down to Black Rock 



176 THE IROQUOIS. 

to meet their brothers. We are glad to break bread and 
drink the cup of friendship with them. They are great 
friends to our people, and we love them very much. Co- 
na-shus-tah is a great man, and his woman has none like 
her. We often come to their house. We thank them 
for telling us to come to-day. But as all the Chiefs 
were asked, we expected some important talk. Now here 
we are, what is your business ? ' 

" This, as may readily be supposed, was an embar- 
rassing position to a young man just out of college. I 
paused. Every countenance was fixed upon me, while 
Red Jacket in particular seemed to search me with his 
arrowy eye, and to feel that the private and informal na- 
ture of the meeting, and the extreme youth of the man, 
were hardly in keeping with the character and number of 
the guests invited ; and his whole manner implied, ' that 
but for the sake of the General and his good friends, I 
should have waited for you to come to me.' With these 
impressions of his feelings, I proceeded to say, in reply : 

" ' That I should have thought it very presumptuous 
in me to send for him alone — and still more, for all the 
Chiefs of his tribe — to come so far to see me ; that my 
intention had been to visit him and the other Chiefs at 
his town ; but the General and his lady could not go with 
me to introduce me ; nor were we at all certain that we 
should find him and the other Chiefs at home ; at any 
rate, the General's house was most convenient. That as 
to myself, I was a young man, and had no business with 
them, except that I had heard a great deal of Red Jacket, 
and wished to see him and hear him talk ; and that I 
would return his visit, and show him that it was not out 
of disrespect, but out of regard for him, and great desire 
to see him, that we had sent for him — this being the way 
the white men honor one another.' 



INTERVIEW WITH RED JACKET. 177 

" Mrs. Porter immediately confirmed what I had said, 
and gave special point to the hospitality of the house, 
and the great desire I had to see Red* Jacket. Her ap- 
peal, added to the reply, relaxed the rigor of his manner 
and that of the other Chiefs, while it relieved our inter- 
view of all painful feelings. 

" After this general letting down of the scene, Red 
Jacket turned to me familiarly and asked : ' What are 
• you ? You say you are not a government agent ; are 
you a gambler (meaning a land speculator), or a black- 
coat — or what are you ? ' 

" I answered, ' I am yet too young a man to engage 
in any profession ; but I hope some of these days to be a 
black coat.' 

" He lifted iip his hands, accompanied by his eyes, in 
a most expressive way ; and though not a word was ut- 
tered, every one fully understood that he very distinctly 
expressed the sentiment, ' What a fool ! ' But I had 
been too often called to bear from those reported ' great 
and wise ' among white men, the shame of the cross, to 
be surprised by his manner ; and I was too anxious to 
conciliate his good feelings to attempt any retort. So that 
I commanded my countenance, and seeming not to have 
observed him, I proceeded to tell him something of our 
Colleges and other institutions. 

" A good deal of general conversation ensued, ad- 
dressed to one and another of the Chiefs, and we were 
just arriving at the hour of dinner, when our conference 
was suddenly broken up by the arrival of a breathless 
messenger, saying that an old Chief, whose name I forget, 
had just died, and the other Chiefs were immediately 
needed to attend his burial. One of the Chiefs shed 
tears at the news ; all seemed serious, but the others sup- 
pressed their feelings, and spent a few moments in a very 
8* 



178 THE IROQUOIS. 

earnest conversation, the result of which Red Jacket an- 
nounced to us. They had determined to return at once 
to their village, but consented to leave Ked Jacket and 
his interpreter. In vain were they urged to wait till 
after dinner, or to refresh themselves with something to 
eat by the way. With hurried farewell and quick steps 
they left the house, and by the nearest foot-path returned 
home. 

" This occurrence relieved me of one difficulty : it 
enabled me to see Red Jacket at leisure alone. It 
seemed, also, to soften his feelings, and make him more 
affable and kind. 

" Soon after the departure of the Chiefs, we were 
ushered to dinner. Red Jacket behaved with great pro- 
priety in all respects ; while his interpreter, though half 
a white man, after a few awkward attempts at the knife 
and fork, found himself falling behind ; and repeating the 
adage, which is often quoted to cover the same style 
among our white urchins, of picking a chicken bone, 
' that fingers were made before forks,'' he proceeded with 
real gusto and much good humor to make up his lost time 
upon all parts of his dinner. It being over, I invited 
Red Jacket into the General's office, where we had four 
hours' most interesting conversation on a variety of 
topics, but chiefly connected with Christianity, the gov- 
ernment of the United States, the missionaries, and his 
loved lands." 

It was during this interview that the objects of specu- 
lators were so explained to him^ that he understood their 
evil designs ; and the true nature of the missionary en- 
terprise was made clear to his comprehension, so that his 
enmity was never afterward so bitter. 

When assured that by the course he was pursuing, he 
was doing more than any one else to break up and drive 



RED JACKET. 179 

away his people, and that the effect of the teachings of 
the missionaries was to preserve them, he grasped the 
hand of the speaker and said : " If this is so, it is new 
to me, and I will lay it up in my mind (pointing to his 
noble forehead), and talk of it to the Chiefs and the 
people." 

Dr. B. continues: "Red Jacket was about sixty 
years old at this time, and had a weather-beaten look, 
which age, and more than all, intemperance had pro- 
duced ; but his general appearance was striking, and his 
face noble. His lofty and capacious forehead, his pier- 
cing black eye, his gently curved lips, fine cheek and 
slightly aquiline nose — all marked a great man ; and as 
sustained and expressed by his dignified air, made a deep 
impression on all who saw him. All these features be- 
came doubly expressive, when his mind and body were 
set in motion by the effort of speaking — if effort that may 
be called which flowed like a stream from his lips. I saw 
him in the wane of life, and heard him only in private, 
and through a stupid and careless interpreter. Yet, not- 
withstanding these disadvantages, he was one of the 
greatest and most eloquent orators I ever knew. His ca- 
dence was measured, and yot very musical ; and when 
excited, he would spring to his feet, elevate his head, ex- 
pand his arms, and utter with indescribable effect of 
manner and tone, some of his noblest thoughts." 

General Porter speaks of him as a man endovred with 
great intellectual powers, and who, as an orator, was not 
only unsurpassed, but unequalled by any of his contempo- 
raries. Although those who were ignorant of his lan- 
guage could not fully appreciate the force and^ beauty of 
his speeches, when received through the medium of an 
interpreter, — generally coarse and clumsy, — yet such waa 
the peculiar gracefulness of his person, attitudes and ac- 



180 THE mOQUOIS. 

tion, and the mellow tones of his Seneca dialect, and such 
the astonishing effects produced on that part of the audi- 
tory who did fully understand him, and whose souls ap- 
peared to be engrossed and borne away by the orator, that 
he was listened to by all with perfect delight. His figures 
were frequently so sublime, so apposite and so beautiful, 
that the interpreter often said the English language was 
not rich enough to allow of doing him justice. 

Another gentleman says : " It is evident that the best 
translations of Indian speeches must fail to express the 
beauty and sublimity of the originals — especially of such 
an original as Red Jacket. It has been my good fortune 
to hear him a few times, but only in late years, when his 
powers were enfeebled by age and iDtemperance ; but I 
shall never forget the impression made on me the first 
time I saw him in council. The English language has no 
figures to convey the true meaning of the original, but 
though coming through the medium of an illiterate inter- 
preter, I saw the dismembered parts of a splendid 
oration." 

On one occasion he used the following figurative lan- 
guage in speaking of the encroachments of the white 
people : 

" "VYe first knew you a feeble plant, which wanted a 
little earth whereon to grow. We gave it you ; and af- 
terward, when we could have trod you under our feet, we 
watered and protected you ; and now you have grown to 
be a mighty tree, whose top reaches the clouds, and whose 
branches overspread the whole land, whilst we, who were 
the tall pine of the forest, have become a feeble plant, 
and need your protection. 

■' When you first came here, you clung around our 
knee and called us father ; we took you by the hand and 
called you brothers. You have grown greater than we, so 



RED JACKET, 181 

that we can no longer reach up to your hand ; but we 
wish to cling around your knee, and be called your chil- 
dren." 

Of the domestic character and habits of the great In- 
dian orator, we of course know very little. It has not 
been the custom of civilized or Christian people to relate 
this portion of the life of any who became eminent 
among them, and we have no means of learning much 
concerning the home life of Indians 

We know that Red Jacket separated from his first 
wife after she had become the mother of several children, 
and that her infidelity was the alleged cause. The re- 
pugnance which he ever afterwards manifested towards 
her, is in accordance with his known moral purity of 
character. 

That he had a father's love for his children, we may 
see in the following beautiful language which he used in 
answer to a lady, who inquired if he had smy living, as 
she knew that several had been taken away. 

Fixing his eyes upon her with a mournful expression 
of countenance, he replied : 

" Ked Jacket was once a great man, and in favor with 
the Great Spirit. He was a lofty pine among the smaller 
trees of the forest. But after years of glory, he degraded 
himself by drinking the fire-water of the white man. The 
Great Spirit has looked upon him in anger, and his light- 
ning-has stripped the pine of its branches." 

Had he hated the white men sufficiently to resist their 
temptations, he might have been the glory and the saviour 
of his people. The word which in Seneca is used to ex- 
press strong drink, very truly and emphatically describes 
it as the mind destroyer. This was its office, and if the 
noble mind of Red Jacket had not been destroyed by its 
agency, be would have seen clearly through the dark plots 



182 THE IROQUOIS. 

of his enemies, and been able to counter-plot to their de- 
struction, and thus rescued his people from the grasp of 
their pursuers. His fall is often quoted as a proof of the 
weak and vicious propensities of the race, which it is use- 
less to attempt to place on a level with the Anglo-Saxon. 

It may be necessary to concede that the Saxon is 
superior to all others, inasmuch as all the others fall back 
and waste away before it. But this superiority will not 
entitle them to claim for themselves more virtues than 
many others can boast. I know it is customary for us to 
pride ourselves upon our success as conquerors and de- 
stroyers, but yet it is lamentable that our national traits 
are far from being Christian ones. It is by making use 
of cruel and revolting means, that we obliterate the traces 
of whole nations and blot out kingdoms, as water oblit- 
erates blood. A nation of Christians, of whatever name, 
could not thus conquer and destroy. If only the warrior 
had been cut off, and the tomahawk and scalping-knife 
buried, the pages of Indian history would not be so dark. 
But they are stained with something worse than blood. 
They are reeking with the slime of falsehood, avarice, 
treachery, drunkenness, and every species of debauchery. 
When Indians adopt civilization, there is no greater pro- 
portion of the whole number who become the slaves of 
vice, than takes place among white people. 

Red Jacket became intemperate, — but how many of 
the members of every Senate and House of Kepresenta- 
tives, since the formation of our government, have be- 
come the same ? How many of the brightest names on 
our historic scroll would be blotted out, if only the virtu- 
ous were allowed to remain ? 

I cannot learn that he was addicted to any other de- 
basing vice. 

As one of the proofs that the Indian had an intuitive 



RED JACKET. 183 

perception of propriety, may be related an incident which 
occurred whilst a gentleman was travelling with a party 
of Indian Chiefs and their interpreter. Red Jacket was 
one of the party, but he was uniformly grave. The oth- 
ers were much inclined to merriment, and during an even- 
ing when they were gathered around the fire in a log 
cabin, the mirth was so great and the conversation so 
jocular, that Red Jacket was afraid the stranger, who 
could not understand their language, would think himself 
treated with impoliteness, and infer that their sport was 
at his expense. He evidently enjoyed their happiness, 
though he took no part; but after awhile he spoke to Mr. 
Parish, the interpreter, and requested him to repeat a 
few words to Mr. Hospres, which were as follows : 

" We have been made uncomfortable by the storm ; 
we are now warm and comfortable ; it has caused us to 
feel cheerful and merry ; but I hope our friend who is 
travelling with us, will not be hurt at this merriment, or 
suppose that we are taking advantage of his ignorance of 
our language, to make him in any manner the subject of 
mirth." 

On being assured that no such suspicion could be en- 
tertained of the honorable men who were present, they 
resumed their mirth and Red Jacket his gravity. 

When Lafayette was an officer in the Revolutionary 
arm}^, he met Red Jacket at the treaty of peace at Fort 
Stanwix, in 1787, where the Indian orator eloquently op- 
posed " burying the tomahawk." When he again visited 
this country, in 1825, they met at Buffalo, and General 
Lafayette remarked, that time had wrought great changes 
upon both since their first meeting. " But," rejoined 
Red Jacket, " he has not been so severe with you as with 
me. He has left you a fresh countenance, and hair to 
cover your head ; while to me behold!" and taking 



184 THE IROQUOIS. 

the covering from hia head, he disclosed that he was nearly 
bald. But Lafayette did not leave him to think thus 
harshly of time, but proved to him that the ravages had 
been nearly the same upon both, by removing a wig and 
exposing a head almost as bald as the Chief's ; upon which 
he remarked with much pleasantry, that a scalp from some 
bystander would renew his youth in the same manner ! 

A young French nobleman visited Buffalo a few years 
before this, and having heard much of the fame of Red 
Jacket, sent him word that he wished to see him, inviting 
him to come the next day. Red Jacket received the 
message, and affected great contempt, saying, " Tell the 
young man if he wishes to visit the old Chief, he will 
find him with his nation, where other strangers pay their 
respects to him, and Red Jacket will be glad to see him." 
The Count sent back word that he had taken a long jour- 
ney and was fatigued ; that he had come all the way from 
France to see the great orator of the Seneca nation, and 
hoped he would not refuse to meet him at Buffalo. 

" Tell him," said the sarcastic Chief, " that having 
come so far to see me, it is strange he should stop within 
seven miles of my lodge." 

So the young Frenchman was obliged to seek him in 
his wigwam ; after which he consented to dine with the 
Count, at Buffalo, and was pronounced by him a greater 
wonder than Niagara itself. 

On one occasion he was visited by a gentleman who 
talked incessantly, and to little purpose, and who would 
go very near the person he was addressing, and chatter 
about as intelligibly as a magpie. Red Jacket, receiving 
the message that a stranger wished to see him, dressed 
himself with great care, and came forth in all his dignity. 
One glance was sufficient to his keen eye to understand 
the character of his guest : and listening a few moments 



VANITY OF RED JACKET. 185 

with contempt in all his features, he went close to him and 
exclaimed, '• Cha ! cha ! cha ! " as fast as he could speak, 
and turned on his heel towards his own cabin " as straight 
as an Indian," nor deigned to look behind him while in 
sight of the house tenanted by the gentleman, who stood 
for once speechless ! 

His vanity was very conspicuous. He was fully aware 
of his importance, and disposed to make others aware of 
it on every possible occasion. Colonel Pickering was 
often employed by the government to negotiate treaties, 
and would take down the speeches on the occasion in 
writing. At one time, when Red Jacket was the orator, 
he thought he would note the words of the interpreter 
whilst the Chief was himself speaking. He immediately 
paused, and on being requested to proceed said, " No, not 
whilst you hold down your head." 

" AYhy can you not speak whilst I write ? " 

" Because, if you look me in the eye, you will know 
whether I tell you the truth." 

At another time, he turned his head to speak to a 
third person, when Red Jacket very haughtily rebuked 
him, saying, " When a Seneca speaks, he ought to be 
listened to with attention, from one end of this great 
island to the other." 

When he returned from Philadelphia, he was in the 
habit of using his oratorical powers to embellish the man- 
ner of his reception, and would collect around him the 
Chiefs and people of his nation, and, dressed in his uni- 
form, with the cocked hat under his arm, would personify 
the President, and bow to all present as if they were the 
company in the great saloon, imitating the manners and 
gestures of the original with true grace and dignity, and 
then entertain his audience with the compliments and at- 
tentions which had been bestowed upon him. 



186 THE IROQUOIS. 

When invited to dine, or be present on any occasion 
of social festivity among white people, he conformed with 
wonderful tact to the customs to which he was a stranger 
— never manifesting any surprise or asking any questions, 
till he could consult some friend whose ridicule he did 
not fear. It was after returning from Philadelphia, where 
he had dined with General Washington, that he asked the 
following explanation. 

He said a man stood behind his chair, and would, 
every now and then, run off with his plate and knife and 
fork, and immediately return with others. " Now," said 
Red Jacket, " what was this for ? " He was told that 
there was a variety of dishes on the President's table, and 
each was cooked in a different way, and for every new 
dish the guests were helped to a new plate. " Oh," said 
he, musing a moment, " is that it ? You must then sup- 
pose that the plates and knives and forks retain the taste 
of the cookery?" On hearing the affirmative, he said, 
" But I should suppose the taste would remain on the 
palate longer than on the plate." That, he was told, they 
were in the habit of washing away with wine. " Oh," 
said he, " I now understand it. I thought, for so general 
a custom, you must have some good reason, and now re- 
gret that I did not know it when I was in Philadelphia ; 
for the moment the man ran off with my plate, I would 
have drank wine till he returned with the other — for 
though I am fond of eating, I am more fond of drinking." 

We are accustomed to think the blanket of the Indian 
a sign of barbarity, and any thing but dignified and 
graceful. Yet the toga of the Roman orator was never 
folded about his noble figure with more grace or dignity, 
than the homely mantle of the Seneca Chief, when he 
arose to address an Indian audience. The adjustment of 
his dress was always the signal by which it was known 



RED JACKET. 187 

that he was about to rise. A gentleman who knew him 
intimately for half a century, says he was the most grace- 
ful public speaker he ever heard. His stature was above 
the middle size ; his eyes fine, and expressive of the in- 
tellect which gave them fire ; he was fluent, without being 
too rapid ; and dignified and stately, without rigidity. 
When he arose, he would turn towards the Indians, and 
ask their attention to what he was about to say in behalf 
of the commissioner of the United States. He would 
then turn towards the commissioner, and with a slight 
but dignified inclination of the head, proceed. Decorum 
was at all times the characteristic of an Indian council. 
If the orator omitted what was considered by any one 
present important to be dwelt upon, he would place him- 
self very near the speaker, and in a quiet and most deli- 
cate manner whisper his suggestion. As they had no 
written documents, their memories were the tablets on 
which were engraven all important events, and these were 
often more faithful than the scrolls of t'ue learned. 

In a council which was held with the Senecas by 
General Tompkins, of New York, a discussion arose con- 
cerning some point in a treaty made several years before. 
The agent stated one thing, and the Indian Chief another, 
insisting that he was correct. He was answered that it 
was written on paper, and must be so. 

" The paper then tells a lie," said the orator, " for I 
have it written here (placing his hand upon his brow). 
You Yankees are born with a feather between your fin- 
gers, but your paper does not speak the truth. The 
Indian keeps his knowledge here ; this is the book the 
Great Spirit has given him, and it does not lie." 

On consulting the documents more particularly, it was 
found that the Indian record was, indeed, the most cor- 
rect ! 



188 THE IROQUOIS. 

Although fond of good things, Red Jacket had a 
great contempt for the sensualist. When speaking of an 
Indian, whose name was Hothread^ and who was known 
to be indolent and gluttonous, he exclaimed, " Waugh ! 
big man here (laying his hand upon his abdomen), but 
very small man here," bringing the palm of his hand with 
significant emphasis across his forehead. 

That he shrank from spectacles of human suffering, 
may have been the reason of his aversion to the war-path. 
He did not like to look on blood. 

At one time, when three young men were to suffer 
death by hanging, and multitudes were rushing towards 
the spot, he was met hurrying in an opposite direction. 
When asked why he did not go to witness the execution, 
he answered, " Fools enough there already ; the battle- 
field is the place to see men die." One would certainly 
think, to witness the throngs which crowd around the gal- 
lows, that neither Christian nor human feeling filled the 
breasts of civilized beings. 

The efforts were for a long time fruitless to induce 
Bed Jacket to sit for his portrait. " When Red Jacket 
dies," he would say, " all that belongs to him shall die 
too." But at length, an appeal to his vanity availed, 
and on being assured that his picture was wanted to hang 
with those of Washington and Jefferson, and other great 
men in the National Galleries, he consented ; and having 
once broken his resolution, no longer resisted, and was 
painted by several artists. The one by Weir is consid- 
ered best, and was taken during a visit of the Chief to 
New York, in 1828, at the request of Dr. Francis. He 
dressed himself with great care in the costume he thought 
the most becoming and appropriate, decorated with his 
brilliant war-dress, his tomahawk, and Washington 
medal. He then seated himself in a large arm-chair 



RED JACKET. 1S9 

while around him groups of Indians were reclining upon 
the floor. He was more than seventy years of age at the 
time, but tall, erect and firm, though with many of the 
traces of time and dissipation upon his form and counte- 
nance. He manifested great pleasure as the outlines of 
the picture were filled up, and especially when his favorite 
medal came out in full relief; and when the picture was 
finished, started to his feet and clasped the hand of the 
artist, exclaiming, " Good ! good ! " 

One who knew him remarks, '• That his characteristics 
are preserved to admiration, and his majestic front ex- 
hibits an altitude surpassing every other I have ever seen 
of the human skull." 

His early youth was spent in the beautiful valley of 
the Genesee ; there were his favorite hunting-grounds, 
and there his memory loved to linger. During the strife 
of wars, and the more bitter strife of treaties, he had in- 
dulged very little in his favorite pastime ; and when a 
day of comparative quiet came, he, in company with a 
friend, took his gun and went forth, in hopes to find a 
deer for the sport of his rifle. They had gone but a little 
distance, when a clearing opened before them. With a 
contemptuous sneer, the old man turned aside and wan- 
dered in another direction. In a little while he came to 
another, and looking over a fence, he saw a white man 
holding a plough, which was turning up the earth in dark 
furrows over a large field. Again he turned sadly away, 
and plunged deeper in the forest, but soon another open 
field presented itself; and though he had been all his life 
oppressed with the woes of his people, he now for the 
first time sat down and wept. There was no longer any 
hope, — they had wasted away. 

Red Jacket was decidedly aristocratic, and disposed 
to stand upon his dignity. No person who knew him 



190 THE IROQUOIS. 

would venture upon familiarity with him, and he did not 
like to have his children mingle freely with all whom they 
might meet in the streets. But he never considered the 
manners and habits of living among white people as 
worthy of imitation ; and after chairs and tables were in- 
troduced by his wife into his own dwelling, he scorned to 
use them, and took his meals, as in the olden time, sitting 
on the floor, or a rude bench, cushioned with deerskin. 
Yet he would not eat alone. Though he talked very 
little, he liked to be surrounded by his family. His 
second wife was his favorite, and he treated her with the 
most affectionate kindness, except in leaving free her reli- 
gion ; and then he scarcely reproached her — only saying 
that in embracing it, she was countenancing the wrongs 
committed upon her people, which he could not, and if 
she persisted he should leave her; and knowing her 
afi'ection for him, he probably thought she would not hesi- 
tate between her husband and Christianity. When he 
found she would not renounce her new faith, he departed 
and lived several months at Tonnewanda. His enmity 
was evidently entirely political. He understood nothing 
of the real nature of Christianity, and was not willing to 
learn any thing concerning it from those who had been 
guilty of the grievous wrongs the red man had suffered, 
whenever those calling themselves Christians had come 
among them. 

But he was not happy separated from those he loved, 
and those he left were not happy without him. He 
missed the caresses of the children, and especially the 
youngest daughter, of whom he was very fond. She used 
to sit upon his knee, with her little arms around his neck 
and her soft cheek resting upon his, and play with his 
silver locks. When he was gone she mourned for him, 



RED JACKET. 191 

and gave her mother no rest till she promised to take her 
to where her father lived. 

They went together; but the mother, with true 
womanly delicacy, entered not his dwelling, and refused 
to see him. She was willing to gratify her children, and 
cultivated their affection and respect for him who had de- 
serted her, but she would not seek him. 

The little girl, who is now a Christian woman, and her- 
self told me the story, threw her arms around her father's 
neck, and kissed him ; and he pressed her to his bosom, 
weeping tears of joy, and perhaps of true sorrow and 
repentance, and told her he was coming home ; that he 
was sorry he had left her mother, and did not think her 
religion had done her any harm. He said he had bought 
her some broadcloth and beads, and would bring them 
when he came. When she left him he went with her to 
the door of the house where her mother lodged, but did 
not enter, and with many sobs and tears she bade him 
good-bye, and returned home. 

In a little while he followed. He came into the 
house and humbly addressed his wife, saying he had come 
back again to live with her, if she would receive him ; 
that he had done wrong, and was very sorry, and had 
been very unhappy. The injured wife did not answer a 
word, but threw her shawl around her, and went to the 
missionary to ask him if it would be right to receive him 
now, and what she should do. The missionary told her 
it was best to welcome him kindly, and encourage him to 
stay, if he made no opposition to her new mode of wor- 
ship. 

On. hastening back, she, in a dignified manner, ex- 
pressed her joy at seeing him, and her unchanged regard ; 
but said she could not consent to his remaining, unless he 
would permit her to go to the Mission Church on Sunday, 



192 THE IROQUOIS. 

and in no way interfere with her religious duties. To 
this he assented, saying he knew she was a better woman 
than before she became a Christian, and he would never 
again molest her. 

The children were rejoiced at the reconciliation, and 
all were again happy. He never violated his promise ; 
and though he could not join the family in their mode 
of worship, not a word of disapprobation, or a look of 
contempt, reminded them that he liked it not. 

And often on Sabbath morning, the old Chief would 
rise early and awake the daughters, saying, " Come, it is 
Sunday, you know ; get up and have the work all done, so 
as to go to meeting with your mother ; always go with 
your mother." Before he left her, his wife was obliged 
to steal away when he did not know it. She would have" 
her house in order, and her blanket ready somewhere out- 
side the dwelling, and when the bell rang, would go qui- 
etly out, take her blanket, and run. But now, when the 
bell rang for Sabbath, or evening meeting, he said, 
" Go ; " and though he disliked to be left alone, he mur- 
mured not, and made himself as comfortable as he could 
till she returned. He had a great respect for her, and 
knew she was worthy of his confidence. 

Though so eloquent in the council-chamber. Red 
Jacket seldom opened his lips in the wigwam. Among 
his own people he was not social, and never entered into 
familiar conversation upon ordinary topics. He was al- 
ways ready to discuss the affairs of the nation with Chiefs 
or distinguished strangers, but was not given to story- 
telling, and seldom entered the houses of his neighbors. 
All the latter years of his life, he was sad on account of 
the woes the Indian had experienced, and the woes he 
predicted were still in store for them. He would lie upon 
his couch for hours, with his hands crossed upon his 



RED JACKET. 193 

breast, and seem in deep distraction, and wish no inter- 
ruption. 

When he had been drinking, he was sometimes merry 
and talked very silly ; but gravity was his prevailing 
mood, — though this is not the prevailing mood of Indians 
generally, as some people imagine. 

When he meditated a speech, he would often repeat it 
to himself, and sometimes rehearse it to the interpreter, 
in order to be sure it would sound well. But his inca- 
pacity for business, and his degeneracy in consequence of 
his intoxication, procured for him the general dislike of 
his people. Many were beginning to see that the mis- 
sionaries were their real friends, and to understand the 
distinction between reality and pretension, and wished 
Christianity to be encouraged. Red Jacket was constant- 
ly disturbing the councils by his bitter opposition and 
sarcasms, and was so unrelenting, that there seemed no 
hope of changing his opinions ; and it finally began to be 
whispered, and then boldly proposed, that he should no 
longer be numbered among the Chiefs of the nation. A 
council was called, and formal resolutions drawn up, de- 
claring the reasons why he was not fit for his office, and 
signed by twenty-six Chiefs. When it became known to 
him, he was greatly grieved, and resolved not to submit 
to such an indignity. Arousing his slumbering energies, 
he made a journey to Washington, to talk with the Presi- 
dent. He called on Colonel McKenney, who was in 
charge of the Bureau of Indian Afi'airs ; and as he had 
been informed by agents of all that had transpired among 
the Senecas, he recapitulated the state of affairs, and ad- 
vised the Chief to return, and endeavor better to under- 
stand the nature of the missionary work ; and, at least, to 
allow those who differed from him in opinion, the same 
liberty he demanded for himself — those who preferred to 
9 



194 THE IROQUOIS. 

be Pagans, could remain so ; and those who wished to 
change, should have the privilege. 

The old man listened with the deepest attention till 
the speaker had finished, and then said, pointing to him 
and then in the direction of his people : " Our father has 
got a long eye." He endeavored to justify himself, and 
poured forth volumes of epithets upon the " black-coats," 
whose professions of disinterestedness he could not un- 
derstand. But on returning home, he became more quiet. 
and seemed convinced of the policy, if not of the justice, 
of the advice he had received, and commenced in earnest 
to retrieve his position. " It shall not be said of me," 
thought he. as the fire of his youth again kindled his eye — 
" It shall not be said that Sa-go-ye-wat-ha lived in insig- 
nificance, and died in dishonor. Am I too feeble to 
revenge myself of my enemies? Am I not as I have 
been?" 

Another council was called, on which occasion his 
sense of wrong and humiliation inspired him with some- 
thing of his former pathos and earnestness, and he said : 

" Brothers : — You have been correctly informed of 
an attempt to make me sit down, and throw off the au- 
thority of a Chief, by twenty-six misguided Chiefs of my 
nation. You have heard the statements of my associates 
in council, and their explanations of the charges brought 
against me. I have taken the legal and proper way to 
meet those charges. It is the only way in which I could 
notice them. They are charges which I despise, and 
which nothing could induce me to notice, but the concern 
many of the respected Chiefs of my nation feel concern- 
ing their aged comrade. Were it otherwise, I should not 
appear before you ; I would fold my arms, and sit quietly 
under these ridiculous slanders. The Christian party 
tave not even proceeded legally, according to our usages, 



RED JACKET. 195 

to put me down. All ! it grieves my heart when I look 
around and see the situation of my people — in old times, 
united and powerful — now, divided and feeble. I feel 
sorry for my nation. When I am gone to the other 
world — when the Great Spirit calls me away — who among 
my people can take my place ? Many years have I guided 
the nation." 

He was restored to his former rank, but the excitement 
of the occasion being over, he sank into a state of almost 
imbecility and stupor, and was never again the Sa-go-ye- 
wat-ha of old, nor ever again exhibited the fire and energy 
of former days. 

He was taken suddenly ill in the Council House, of 
cholera morbus, where he had gone that day dressed with 
more than ordinary care, with all his gay apparel and or- 
naments. When he returned he said to his wife, " I am 
sick ; I could not stay till the council had finished. I 
shall never recover." He then took off all his rich cos- 
tume and laid it carefully away ; reclined himself upon his 
couch, and did not rise again till morning, or speak except 
to answer some slight question. His wife prepared him 
medicine which he patiently took, but said, " It will do no 
good. I shall die." The next day he called her to him, 
and requested her and the little girl he loved so much to 
sit beside him, and listen to his parting words. 

" I am going to die," he said. " I shall never leave 
the house again alive. I wish to thank you for your kind- 
ness to me. You have hved me. You have always pre- 
pared my food, and taken care of my clothes, and been pa- 
tient with me. I am sorry I ever treated you unkindly. 
I am sorry I left you, because of your new religion, and 
am convinced that it is a good religion and has made you 
a better woman, and wish you to persevere in it. I 
should like to have lived a little longer for your sake. I 



196 THE IROQUOIS. 

meant to build you a new house and make you more com- 
fortable, but it is now too late. But I hope my daughter 
will remember what I have so often told her — not to go 
in the streets with strangers, or associate with improper 
persons. She must stay with her mother, and grow up a 
respectable woman. 

" When I am dead, it will be noised abroad through all 
the world — they will hear of it across the great waters, 
and say, ' Red Jacket, the great orator, is dead.' And 
white men will come and ask you for my body. They 
will wish to bury me. But do not let them take me. 
Clothe me in my simplest dress — put on my leggins and 
my moccasins, and hang the cross which I have worn so 
long, around my neck, and let it lie upon my bosom. 
Then bury me among my people. Neither do I wish to 
be buried with Pagan rites. I wish the ceremonies to be 
as you like, according to the customs of your new religion 
if you choose. Your minister says the dead will rise. 
Perhaps they will. If they do, I wish to rise with my old 
comrades. I do not wish to rise among pale- faces. I 
wish to be surrounded by red men. Do not make a feast 
according to the customs of the Indians. Whenever my 
friends chose, they could come and feast with me when I 
was well, and I do not wish those who have never eaten 
with me in my cabin, to surfeit at my funeral feast." 

When he had finished, he laid himself again upon the 
couch and did not rise again. He lived several days, but 
was most of the time in a stupor or else delirious. He 
often asked for Mr. Harris, the missionary, and afterwards 
would unconsciously mutter — " I do not hate him — he 
thinks I hate him, but I do not. I would not hurt him." 
The missionary was sent for repeatedly, but did not return 
till he was dead. When the messenger told him Mr. 
Harris had not come, he replied, •' Very well. The Great 



LAST HOURS OF RED JACKET. 197 

Spirit will order it as he sees best, whether I have an op- 
portunity to speak with him." Again he would murmur, 
" He accused me of being a snake, and trying to bite some- 
body This was very true, and I wish to repent and make 
satisfaction," 

Whether it was Mr. Harris that he referred to all the 
time he was talking in this way could not be ascertained, 
as he did not seem to comprehend if any direct question 
was put to him, but from his remarks, and his known en- 
mity to him. this was the natural supposition. Sometimes 
he would think he saw some of his old companions around 
him, and exclaim, " There is Farmer's Brother ; why does 
he trouble me — why does he stand there looking at me ?" 
then he would again sink into a stupor. 

The cross which he wore was a very rich one of stones 
set in gold, and very large ; it was given to him, but by 
whom his friends never knew. This was all the ornament 
which he requested should be buried with him. It was a 
universal custom among the Indians to make funeral 
feasts. No family was so poor that they did not endeavor 
to honor the dead in this manner. If a cow was all they 
possessed, it was slaughtered on this occasion. Red 
Jacket commanded that there should be nothing of the 
kind for him. A pagan funeral for a distinguished per- 
son is a very pompous affair. It continues for ten days, 
and every night a fire is kindled at the grave, and around 
it the mourners gather and utter piteous wails. It is 
foolish and heathenish, too, but scarcely more so than the 
custom among the ultra refined of spending a little fortune 
upon a peculiar dress, to be worn so many days or years 
— and it is not very long since Christian people thought 
it a testimony of their regard for the dead, or a necessary 
and solemn warning to the living, to place death^s heads 
around the grave yard. It is all a relic of barbarism. 



198 THE IROQUOIS. 

It certainly was a great step in the march of progress, 
that Red Jacket should abjure these pagan rites. After 
a life of sworn enmity to Christianity, that the example, 
the quiet unobtrusive example of a Christian woman in 
her household, should so influence him concerning Chris- 
tianity, that he requested a Christian burial, and volun- 
tarily and formally expressed to her his approbation of 
her religion, and his desire that she and her children 
should embrace it and live in accordance with its require- 
ments. If he had come in contact with none but truly 
Christian men, he might in early life have been, not only 
a nominal, but an experimental Christian, and all his 
noble gifts consecrated to the elevation and redemption 
of his people. 

The wife and daughter were the only ones to whom 
he spoke parting words or gave, a parting blessing ; but as 
his last hour drew nigh, his family all gathered around 
him. and mournful it was to think that the children were 
not his own — his were all sleeping in the little church- 
yard where he was soon to be laid — they were his step- 
children — the children of his favorite wife. It has been 
somewhere stated that his first wife died before him, but 
it is a mistake. She was living at the time of his death. 
He never went to see her but once after he left her, and 
that was about six months after their separation. He 
always asserted that he did not condemn her upon sus- 
picion, that he was satisfied of her guilt before he deserted 
her. But he went once again to see her, thinking he 
might be able to forgive her, and receive her again as his 
companion for his children's sake, but found it impossible. 
He revolted from the thought of again calling her wife, 
and turned away never to see her more. 

So there were none around his dying bed but step- 
children. These he had always loved and cherished, and 



DEATH OF RED JACKET. 199 

they loved and honored him, for this their mother had 
taught them. The wife sat by his pillow and rested her 
hand upon his head. At his feet stood the two sons, who 
are now aged and Christian men, and by his side the little 
girl, whose little hand rested upon his withered and trem- 
bling palm. His last words were still, " Where is the 
missionary ? " and then he clasped the child to his bosom, 
while she sobbed in anguish — her ears caught his hurried 
breathing — his arms relaxed their hold — she looked up, 
and he was gone. There was mourning in the household, 
and there was mourning among the people. The orator, 
the great man of whom they were still proud, while they 
lamented his degeneracy, was gone. He had been a true 
though mistaken friend, and who would take his place ! 

He had requested that a vial of cold water might be 
placed in his hand, when he was prepared for the burial, 
but the reason of the request no one could divine. It was 
complied with, however, and all his wishes strictly heeded. 
The funeral took place in the little mission church, with 
appropriate but the most simple ceremonies ; and he was 
buried in the little mission burying-ground, at the gateway 
of what was once an old fort, around him his own peo- 
ple — aged men, sachems, chiefs and warriors, and little 
children. 

A simple stone was erected to mark his grave, and the 
spot became a resort for the traveller from far and near. 
Soon it began to be desecrated, and his name disappeared 
from the marble, defaced by those who wished to carry 
away some memento of having visited the chieftain's tomb. 
Some among those who knew and honored him, wished to 
remov-e his remains to the new cemetery at Buffalo ; but 
knowing or understanding the tenacity of his friends con- 
cerning his being buried among white people, they caused 
him to be disinterred and placed in a leaden coffin, pre- 



200 THE IFwOQUOIS. 

paratory to a burial in a new spot. But ere their desire 
was accomplished, his family had heard of what they con- 
sidered the terrible sacrilege, and immediately demanded 
that he should be given up. They had removed from the 
Buflfalo to the Cattaraugus reservation, and therefore did 
not wish to bury him again in the mission church-yard, so 
they brought every particle of the precious dust to their 
own dwelling, where it still remains unburied. They 
almost felt as if he would rise up to curse them, if they 
allowed him to lie side by side with those he so cordially 
hated. He did not wish to rise with pak-faccs ; and 
though, if we should meet him on the resurrection morn, 
we should probably be able to discover no marked difter- 
ence between his complexion and our own. i^ is not strange 
he did not even wish to mingle his red dust with that of 
his white foes. 

It was one of his most emphatic predictions, that the 
"craft and avarice of the white man would prevail; " and 
in less than nine years after his death, every foot of '• the 
ancient inheritance of the Senecas was ceded to the white 
men, in exchange for a tract west of the Mississippi,"' 
Through the intervention of the Friends, as I have else- 
where stated, this calamity was averted, and for the first 
and only time, the Indians recovered their laud, after it 
had been fraudulently obtained. 

There seemed for a time every prospect that the pro- 
phetic assertion of the historian would be fulfilled — that 
''Red Jacket was the last of the Senecas." But there 
have been wise men and orators among them since, and 
the present just and liberal policy of the State of New 
York, will soon place education and cultivation within the 
reach of all, and they are abundantly disposed to improve 
and enjoy the good gifts which are bestowed upon them. 
Schoolboys and collegians may find some other theme 



RKh JACKKT'.S grave. 



201 



for their eloquence, than '^ the last of the Min^roeg wending 
hiH way towards the .setting sun," for there is no lonr^er 
any room to fear this dire calamity. '^ 

The following is the inscription upon the stone at the 
head of his grave : 

SA-GO-YE-WAT-ifA, 

UK KEEPS T Jf E M AWAKE. 

liED JACKET, 

CHIEF <)V TUK. 
WOLF TJilJJE OF THE S EXEC AS. 

Died, Jan. 20, 1830. 
Aged, 78 years. 




CHAPTER X. 

DIGNITY OF CHARACTER AMONG THE IROQUOIS, ILLUSTRATED 
BY THE LIFE OF FARMEE.'s BROTHER AND YOUNG KING. 

Red Jacket has been most conspicuous among the 
Chiefs of the Seneca Nation, because he excelled in those 
qualities which his enemies were willing to allow were 
great. He was not a warrior but an orator, and however 
marvellous his speeches and cutting his sarcasms, it did 
them no great harm in those points where their interest 
was most concerned. What he said was true, and pierced 
like a sword, but it fell powerless so far as preventing the 
wrongs of which he complained, or preserving his people 
from the doom which avarice had marked out. So even 
those who felt most keenly his home thrusts^ were willing 
to applaud and crown him with honor. 

But the warrior was more dangerous, and courage, and 
fortitude, and skill, in an Indian, did not receive these 
names. His bravery was savage desperation, his fortitude 
sullenness, and his successful stratagems treachery. When 
a war of extermination was planned by white men, it was 
said to be in self-defence, but they could not understand 
that Indians might be influenced by the same motive. A 
wrong to one individual or clan was more essentially a 
wrong to the whole, among a people who were compara- 
tively so few and scattered, than among flourishing com- 



farmer's brother. 203 

munities. The death of a few distinguished warriors or 
chiefs, was a loss which could not be easily supplied; 
when their forests were cut down and their villages were 
laid waste, there was nothing left but starvation for them- 
selves and families, or else to bid for ever farewell to the 
hills and valleys, and rocks and streams, which were hal- 
lowed by the legends of centuries, — the birth-place and 
burial-place of their fathers. They appreciated every 
thing that was beautiful in scenery, and loved their native 
wilds as we love the spot where we were born. When 
they went forth to defend them, it was not in cold blood, 
but with enthusiasm — an enthusiasm kindled by the pu- 
rest and loftiest sentiments which can animate the human 
souh On the field of battle, they were bewildered and 
maddened by the pompous array and the flashing fire, and 
when overcome they were desperate, sullen and revengeful. 

Farmer's Brother might have shone in the council, but 
he preferred the war-path. He had all the gifts of Ked 
Jacket, and some which the great orator had not. He 
was truly noble, possessing the virtues which command 
respect in the world, and endear to the heart in social and 
domestic life. By one who knew him intimately as a com- 
panion on the war-path and in the camp, he is said to be 
'• the most noble Indian in form and mould — in carriage 
and in soul, of that generation of his race." He led the 
warriors of his nation in the war of 1812, during which 
they were remarkable for magnanimity and kindness — for 
listening to the dictates of humanity, where even the rules 
of civilized nations would have sanctioned a difi"erent 
course. During the revolutionary war he was a faithful 
ally of the British ; and is said to have been in the bloody 
battle in which Braddock lost his life and the flower of the 
British army in the old French war. 

As almost his whole life was on the war-path, there is 



204 THE IROQUOIS. 

very little to be said of him as a private man. During 
the wars with the Western Indians, he made several 
speeches which were remarkable for power and eloquence, 
but so early as that period it was not the custom to pre- 
serve the speeches of the Indians, and no portion of these 
remain. But he made one in behalf of two white men, 
who had been taken captive in their childhood and adopted 
by the Indians, and to whom they wished to give a tract 
of land, to be theirs and their children's for ever. As this 
donation could not be made without the consent of the 
State, at the convening of the General Assembly this pe- 
tition was sent by the Chiefs, Sachems and warriors, and 
written by Farmer's Brother. It is another proof of the 
consideration shown to captives by the Indians. Mr. 
Jones and Mr. Parish had been interpreters for the Six 
Nations, and always true and faithful to the Indian in- 
terests. 

" The Sachems, Chiefs, and warriors of the Seneca na- 
tion to the Sachems and Chiefs assembled about the great 
Council Fire of the State of New York : 

" Brothers : — As you are once more assembled in 
council for the purpose of doing honor to yourselves and 
justice to your country ; we, your brothers, the Sachems, 
Chiefs and warriors of the Seneca nation, request you to 
open your ears and give attention to our voice and wishes. 
" Brothers : — You recollect the late contest between 
you and your father, the great King of England. This 
contest threw the inhabitants of this island into great 
tumult and commotion, like a raging whirlwind which 
tears up the trees, and tosses to and fro the leaves, so 
that no one knows from whence they come, or where they 
will fall. 

" Brothers : — This whirlwind was so directed by the 
Great Spirit above as to throw into our arms two of j^our 



GENEROSITY TO CAPTIVES. 205 

infant children, Jasper Parish and Horatio Jones. We 
adopted them into our families and made them our chil- 
dren. We loved them and nourished them. They lived 
with us many years. At length the Great Spirit 
SPOKE TO the whirlwind, AND IT WAS STILL. A clcar and 
uninterrupted sky appeared. The path of peace was open- 
ed, and the chain of friendship was once more made bright. 
Then these our adopted children left us to seek their rela- 
tions. We wished them to return among us, and promised 
if they would return, and live in our country, to give each 
of them a seat of land for them and their children to sit 
down upon. 

"Brothers : — They have returned, and have for seve- 
ral years past been serviceable to us as interpreters. We 
still feel our hearts beat with affection for them, and now 
wish to fulfil the promise we made them, and to reward 
them for their services. We have therefore made up our 
minds to give them a seat of ten square miles of land, 
lying on the outlet of Lake Erie, about three miles below 
Black Bock, beginning at the mouth of a creek known by 
the name of Scoy-gu-quay-des Creek. 

" Brothers : — We have now made known to you our 
minds ; we expect and earnestly request that you will per- 
mit our friends to receive this our gift, and will make the 
same good to them according to the laws and customs of 
your nation. 

"Brothers: — Why should you hesitate to make our 
minds easy with regard to this our request ? To you it is 
but a little thing, and have you not complied with the re- 
quest, and confirmed the gift of the Oneidas, the Onon- 
dagas and Cayugas, to their interpreters ? And shall 
we ask and not be heard ? 

" Bf».others : — We send you this our speech, to which 



206 THE IROQUOIS. 

we expect your answer before the breaking up of your 
great council fire." 

Mr. JoneSj who is alluded to, was taken captive at the 
age of sixteen, on the banks of the '• Blue Juniata," and 
conveyed to the Genesee Valley, where he was adopted 
into an Indian family, and remained five years, when he 
was made interpreter for the Six Nations by General 
Washington. 

He was the favorite interpreter of Red Jacket ; and 
having secured the perfect confidence of the Indians, had 
great influence over them. 

He married an Indian wife, and his son became one 
of the most respected among the Seneca chiefs ; he mar- 
ried the step-daughter of Ked Jacket, and left an interest- 
ing family of children, one of whom was presented by the 
dying mother to the missionaries, who adopted it for their 
own. It was a little girl, whom they named Louisa Maria, 
and who, though she died in early childhood, lived long 
enough to become a bud of promise ; yes, a blossom of 
Christian love, and hope and faith, a lamb of Christ's 
flock. She belonged to the class of those who always die 
in infancy, "whose names are all on gravestones." They 
are perfected without the discipline of earth's trials, and 
transplanted, to bloom as spring flowers in the gardens 
above. Life would be a dreary pathway without the lit- 
tle ones, and the heavenly choir would not make so sweet 
melody without the music of their voices. 

Mr. Parish was born in Connecticut, and afterwards 
emigrated to Pennsylvania. His home was the Vale of 
Wyoming, and he experienced the fate of so many of its 
children. He was taken captive when he was eleven, and 
adopted with the usual ceremonies, being transferred from 
one nation to another, and experiencing all the vicissitudes 
of Indian life during seven years, when he was released. 



farmer's brother. 207 

He could speak five of the Indian dialects fluently, and 
was interpreter for the Six Nations thirty years. 

Farmer's Brother, at one time on a visit to Philadel- 
phia, was presented with a silver medal by Washington, 
which bore his own likeness, and of which the chief was 
very proud, wearing it suspended from his neck, and say- 
ing he would lose it only with his life. 

During the war of 1812 he was often associated with 
Captain Worth, who was a great favorite with the Indians. 
At one time he was very sick for several weeks, and the 
Indians lingered about his tent, expressing the greatest 
anxiety, ready for any service, and Farmer's Brother was 
in the habit of sitting by his bedside several hours every 
day. 

On one occasion, a Chippewa Indian crossed over from 
Canada, and joined a little party near the quarters of 
Captain Worth, pretending that he had deserted. But 
Indians of any nation were not in the habit of deserting, 
so his new companions did not believe his story. Still 
they did not molest him, and he mingled with them freely, 
listening to their stories and relating his own, till one day 
an indiscretion betrayed him. The Americans and some 
of their red allies were boasting of the number of red- 
coats they had killed, when the Chippewa, forgetting his 
disguise, also boasted, but it was of the Yankees and Sene- 
cas he had slain. Ah, yes ! he was a spy ; and quickly 
was he arraigned to answer for his sin. 

Farmer's Brother was by his sick friend, but hearing 
the noise without, he sallied forth to learn the cause. The 
poor Chippewa was surrounded by warriors, that he might 
not make his escape, and pointed out to the old chief with 
great contempt as an enemy in their midst. He learned 
the particulars, and then stepped up to the Chippewa, 
with a word or two, which he alone understood ; and im- 



208 THE IROQUOIS. 

mediately the culprit drew his blanket over his head, and 
coolly received a blow from the war-club, which sent him 
staggering to the ground. 

For a moment he was stunned and motionless, but 
suddenly he sprung to his feet, rushed through the circle, 
and fled. To shrink from pain or fear death, was an ever- 
living disgrace to an Indian, and he had not gone far 
when the taunts of the Senecas stung him more than 
would a thousand barbed "arrows. He stopped, deliber- 
ately retraced his steps, and entered again the circle. Yes, 
he would die with all the heroism of an Indian warrior ; 
and the Athenian philosopher did not more coolly swallow 
the poison mixed by his enemies, than the dauntless Chip- 
pewa seated himself upon the ground, and drew again his 
blanket over his head, to receive the death blow. Now 
they permitted him to be shot, and Farmer's Brother dis- 
charged the contents of his faithful rifle in his breast. 

During the same war, a fugitive Mohawk, from the 
enemy, had endeavored to pass for a Seneca, and came 
among those who were led by this famous chief, who im- 
mediately recognized him. 

" I know you well," said he ; " you belong to the Mo- 
hawks. You are a spy. Here is my rifle, my tomahawk, 
my scalping knife ; say which shall I use ; I am in haste." 

The young Mohawk knew there was no hope, and said 
he would die by the rifle. He was ordered to lie down 
upon the grass, and with one foot upon his breast, the 
chieftain shot him through the head. 

Some of my readers will be ready to exclaim, " How 
heartless and barbarous ! " and thoroughly savage, too, per- 
haps ; but I shall only have to refer them for a parallel, to 
English and American history only a few years before, 
when young Hale was hung in an English camp for being 
a spy, and the gallant Major Andre in an American camp 



IGNORANCE OF MONEY. 209 

for the same reason ; and no petitions or pleadings could 
procure for them a more honorable death. " Only permit 
me to be shot, and I will glory in my death," plead the 
brave young man who was risking life, and honor too, in 
the service of his country, and whose only sin was that he 
dared too much for the cause he had espoused. But even 
AVashington would not relent, and the noble youth was 
hung like a common felon. 

The simplicity of the Indian in money matters, and 
especially concerning the interest of sums deposited in 
banks, was very amusing. At one time there was ceded 
a tract of land including four millions of acres, for which 
they were to receive one hundred thousand pounds ; the 
Indians being told that the interest of the money would 
be more useful than so much unproductive land, and this 
interest should be paid them annually. It was very diffi- 
cult at first for them to comprehend the nature of a bank, 
and how money could be made to grow, knowing as they 
did that it was not placed in the earth to produce like 
corn. They saw that it was planted and produced a crop, 
but the place and the process were a great mystery. But 
those on wdiom devolved the business soon made them- 
selves masters of the science, and knew very quick if the 
crop was not the full amount, though the uninitiated 
would sometimes ask what the prospect was in a season 
like that ? The figure was adopted, and is still used in 
their language, of saying the money is planted and grows. 
They have planted a certain sum, and it has grown to a 
great amount. As few of them could count more than a 
hundred, it was a long time before they could reckon a 
hundred thousand ; and their first lesson was given by 
filling a cask with dollars, and then another, and showing 
them how many casks would be required to contain the 



210 THE IROQUOIS. 

whole, and how many horses would be necessary in order 
to draw it. 

It was in the making of this treaty that Red Jacket 
was guilty of a duplicity which left a dark stain upon his 
name for ever, and sowed enmity between him and the 
honest Farmer's Brother and Cornplanter, which was 
never entirely removed. 

When they heard that there was trouble about the in- 
terest of the money that had been deposited in the bank, 
as it might fail. Farmer's Brother wrote a letter express- 
ing the fears and misunderstandings of the people, ad- 
dressed to the Secretary of War. 

" Brothepv, : — The sachems and chief warriors of the 
Seneca Nation of Indians, understanding you are tlie 
person appointed by the great council of your nation, to 
manage and conduct the affairs of the several nations of 
Indians with whom you are at peace and on terms of 
friendship, come at this time as children to a father, to 
lay before you the trouble which we have on our minds. 

" Brother : — Listen to what we say. Some years since 
we held a treaty at Bigtree, near the Genesee River. 
This treaty was called by our great father, the President 
of the United States. At this treaty we sold to Robert 
Morris, the greatest part of our country; the sum he 
gave us was one hundred thousand dollars. The com- 
missioners who were appointed on your part, advised us 
to place this money in the hands of our great father, the 
President of the United States. He told us our father 
loved his red children, and would take care of our money, 
and plant it in a field where it would bear seed for ever, 
as long as trees grow, or waters run. Our money has 
heretofore been of great service to us, it has helped us to 
support our old people and our women and children ; but 



INDIAN FUND. 211 

we are told the field where our money was planted is be- 
come barren. 

Brother : — We do not understand your way of doing 
business. The thing is very heavy on our minds : we 
hope you will remove it." 

On the reception of this letter the fund was trans- 
ferred from the bank to the Government of the United 
States, which has ever since paid the Indians the interest 
faithfully. From the sale of other lands in the State 
they receive several thousand dollars, and in all about 
($16,500) sixteen thousand five hundred dollars. This 
is divided equally among men, women, and children. The 
infant of two days old receives as large a sum as the 
greatest Chief. It would be infinitely better for them, 
now, if this money could be appropriated to educational 
purposes, or devoted to the public benefit in some other 
way ; but there is not yet a sufficient number who appre- 
ciate the importance of educational and other improve- 
ments, to consent to a change in the di>,tribution of their 
annuities. Unless they save it every year, they would 
think they did not have it. Yet there are many who 
fully understand and strongly advocate a hetter way^ and 
1 doubt not ere long it will be adopted, and schools and 
agricultural interests be the first to receive the benefit ; 
for these they are fast learning to value. 

The following extract from the journal of Mr. Savory, 
one of a deputation sent in 1794, by the Quakers, to learn 
the condition and wants of the Indians, will give a 
glimpse of him in his forest home. 

" After dinner we went to view Farmer's Brother's 
encampment, which contained about five hundred Indians. 
They were located by the side of a brook, in the woods ; 
having built about seventy or eighty huts, by far the most 
commodiously and ingeniously made of any we have yet 



212 THE IROQUOIS, 

seen. The principal materials are bark and the boughs 
of trees, so nicely put together as to keep the family nice 
and warm. The women as well as the men appeared to 
be mostly employed. In this camp there are a large 
number of pretty children, who, in all their activity and 
buoyancy of health, were diverting themselves according 
to their fancy. The vast numbers of deer they have 
killed, since comiDg here, which they cut up and hang 
around their huts inside and out to dry, together with the 
rations of beef which they had drawn daily, give the ap- 
pearance of plenty to supply the few wants to which they 
are subjected. The ease and cheerfulness of every counte- 
nance, and the delightfulness of the afternoon, which these 
inhabitants of the woods seemed to enjoy with a relish far 
superior to those who are pent up in crowded and popu- 
lous cities, all combined to make this the most pleasant 
visit I have yet made to the Indians ; and induced me 
to believe that before they became acquainted with white 
people, and were infected with their vices, they must 
have been as happy a people as any in the world. In 
returning to our quarters we passed by the Indian Coun- 
cil, where Red Jacket was displaying his oratory to his 
brother chiefs. He afterwards made us a visit with his 
wife and five children, whom he had brought to see us. 
They were exceedingly well clad, agreeable in their man- 
ners, and the best behaved and prettiest Indian children 
I had ever met with." 

In closing the report he says, that during a sojourn 
of seven weeks among the Indians, they had frequent 
opportunity of observing the melancholy and demoraliz- 
ing effects resulting from the supply of ardent spirits 
furnished them by white people ; and the difficulties and 
hardships to which these poor people, once a free and 
independent nation, are now subjected, appeared to them 



farmer's brother. 213 

loudly to claim the sympathy of friends and other!?, who 
have grown opulent upon the land which was their former 
inheritance. 

Farmer's Brother never yielded to the temptation of 
the fire-water. He lived and died a sober man. " He was 
a noble instance of a great and magnanimous mind. No 
one who looked upon him could imbibe feelings of disgust 
or hatred ; and all who knew him well, felt esteem and 
veneration. He was never guilty of meanness, littleness, 
or intrigue ; but was ever open, dignified, and fearless. 
He was a fine specimen of the Indian form, and trod the 
earth like a king, with the impress of integrity and honor 
upon his face as it was thoroughly stamped upon his 
character." 

" ' He was one of nature's noblemen, 

the front of Jove himself, 

An eye like Mars to threaten and command : 
A station Hke the herald Mercury.' " 

" None who saw him will fail to recollect his majestic 
mien and princely bearing, much less will they who have 
heard him in council, forget the power and deep-toned 
melody of his voice — his natural and impressive gestures, 
and the unafi'ected and commanding dignity of his man- 
ner. Unrivalled as a warrior, and only equalled by Red 
Jacket in eloquence, speaking in the verity of sober 
prose, it may be said that his was 

" 'A combination and a form indeed, 
To give the world assurance of a man.'" 

" His influence with his nation was very great ; and 
his true glory, his open-heartedness, his fidelity to truth, 
and his generous magnanimity, secured for him the admi- 
ration and respect of every white person who had the 



214 THE IROQUOIS. 

honor of his acquaintaiice. He was a firm friend where 
he promised fidelity, and a bitter enemy to those against 
whom he contended ; and would lose the last drop of 
blood in his veins sooner than betray the cause he had 
espoused. He lived to be ninety years of age, dying in 
1814, and continued a Pagan to the day of his death, 
as thoroughly opposed to Christianity^ and all the inroads 
of civilization as Red Jacket himself." 

YOUNG-KING. 

The Indian names fall strangely, and sometimes 
harshly on ears 'polite, and when belonging to persons of 
dignity, convey to us any thing but an idea of the true 
qualities of those who bore them. Yet Big-Kettle was a 
truly great and noble man ; and every time I find myself 
in company with Indians, I am introduced to those whose 
names bring a smile to my lips in spite of all my attempts 
at gravity ; like Mr. Silver-heels, Mr. Sun-down, and Mr. 
Tall-Chief. Young- King was a chief of the Seneca Na- 
tion, and one of whom the people were very proud on ac- 
count of his bravery in war, his wisdom in council, and 
his mild, pacific character in social life. He was born at 
Canandaigua, which signifies in their language " The 
Chosen City," and indicates far more to them than it does 
to us of beauty in scenery and location, and was to the 
Indian one of his most loved spots, among all the smiling 
valleys and fruitful fields which dotted their favorite hunt- 
ing-grounds, on the borders of the lakes and rivers which 
stretch from the Hudson to Niagara, and from the St. 
Lawrence to the Ohio. Oh ! the cruel desolation which 
swept them away ! 

Young-King was one of those who fled before the 
American army under General Sullivan, who was sent to 
destroy their settlements in 1777, But he was only a 



AMERICAN BARBARISM. 215 

boy, being, as be thought, ton or twelve years of age— as 
his mother gave him a frying-pan to carry on their flying 
route to Canada, where they went to seek the protection 
of the British, in whose service their warriors had 
fought, 

"And in their canse bled nobly." 

He was the son of '' Old Smoke," one of the most 
distinguished sachems of the Six Nations, and though 
not equal to his father, was the keeper of the council- 
fire, and ever won the respect of enemies and the love of 
friends. 

As I read over volumes of history in order to glean 
the truth from the great mass of details, I cannot help 
being struck with the diflferent manner in which massacre 
and bloodshed are represented when Indians are spoken 
of, and when the same things are recorded of white men. 
The villages of Wyoming and Cherry Valley were de- 
vastated and destroyed by British and Indians, and the 
shocking story is repeated and dwelt upon as unparalleled 
in atrocity. The Indian is called a barbarian and blood- 
thirsty assassin — the personification of cruelty and re- 
venge. But when it is recorded of the American army 
that " they were sent in every direction to overrun and 
lay waste Indian settlements, cut down their orchards, 
destroy their provisions and crops, kill their cattle and 
horses, and apply the besom of destruction to every thing 
that could give shelter or sustenance to man or beast ; " 
and it is added, that " they meted out the full measure 
of destruction and desolation upon every settlement that 
came in their way, and actually destroyed forty Indian 
villages, one hundred and sixty thousand bushels of corn, 
vast quantities of beans and other vegetables, a great 
number of horses, and all farming utensils, and indeed 



216 THE IROQUOIS. 

every thing that was the result of labor or the produce 
of cultivation; all this being the unmolested and unre- 
mitting employment of five thousand men for three weeks ;" 
and to close their labors of destruction, applied the torch 
to the ancient metropolis of the Seneca Nation, which 
contained one hundred and twenty-eight houses — many 
being killed and many taken prisoners, and all obliged to 
flee — men, women, and children — through the wilderness, 
strewing the way with the dead and dying — it is called 
"gallant," a "brilliant achievement," a "glorious ex- 
ploit ! " That Indian mothers see their children murdered 
before their eyes, or starving, or wasting from sickness, 
is nothing to excite pity or call forth compassion. That 
the horses, and cows, and sheep of Indians are burnt, and 
all their pleasant fields laid waste, is matter of rejoicing. 
Their homes were far more dear to them than were the 
homes of those who had occupied them but for a few 
years ; for they were living with the legends and sweet 
associations of centuries. They were deprived of their 
birthright. I have listened with horror as I have heard 
old men relate the tales of hunger, and sickness, and 
misery to which thousands were reduced by an act which 
gained for the victors immortal honors and not a single 
censure. 

The Indians were the allies of the English, and faith- 
ful to their plighted word. They fought according to 
their rules of warfare, and fought for their homes and 
their firesides, their wives and their children, and fought 
in vain. Theirs, too, were happy homes, where love and 
domestic virtue dwelt ; and their freedom from envyings 
and jealousies, and strife and malice, might put many 
Christian homes to shame. Instead of wondering that 
they hated white people, I only wonder that the wounds 
they received should ever have healed — that they do not 



YOUNG-KING. 



217 



rankle for ever, and produce utter detestation and uncon- 
(juerable enmity to every thing with a pale skin. 

This has been the case with many, and made it almost 
impossible for the missionaries to convince them that a 
religion taught by such a people, could have in it any 
good thing. And only by living among them, and exeni- 
Pb'fjiiig its principles by long and intimate intercourse, 
could induce them to listen to the Gospel messages. 

Young-King was one of the first among the Seneca 
chiefs to see the good influence of education and the 
Christian religion upon his people ; and his influence was 
very great, standing as he did so high as a warrior and 
chief 

Like too many, too, he partook of the fire-ivater^ and 
for many years was a victim of the lowest intemperance. 
In a drunken brawl he lost an arm, and a finger from the 
remaining hand ; but after he became a Christian, not a 
drop ever wet his lips. At one time, on a journey, he 
was thrown from hisKjarriage, and badly injured. When 
the physician came, he was groaning upon the floor in a 
neighboring hut ; but the whiskey-bottle stood upon the 
table, and was an irresistible temptation ; he must drink 
before he could attend his patient. When Young-King 
observed it, he asked "What you drink?" The doctor 
answered, " Whiskey, and it will do you good ; come, take 
a glass ! " " No," said the chief, " and you no bleed me, 
you no bleed me ! " and though in the most intense sufl"er- 
ing, he would not allow any thing to be done for him by 
a man who drank whiskey. 

He was the first man who built a rod of fence on the 
Bufi'alo Keservation, where the missionaries first resided; 
and often, in the cold winter days, would be seen on Sat- 
urday, crossing the creek in his little canoe, to see if the 
church were supplied with fuel for the Sabbath ; and if it 

19 



218 THE IROQUOIS. 

were not, with his one hand wielded the axe, and chopped 
the little pile, which he also carried to the door, to be sure 
that it was ready for the morning service, saying, he came 
so late into the vineyard, he must work diligently in order 
to accomplish any thing before he was called away. He 
enjoyed very little direct instruction, and could not read ; 
yet he seemed to understand clearly the history of redemp- 
tion, and the nature of the atonement, as well as the intri- 
cate workings of the human heart. 

His manners were very refined and gentlemanly ; and 
his deportment, at all times, that of one who had been 
well-bred and accustomed to cultivated circles ; and the 
old-fashioned hospitality which characterizes his people, 
was kept up at his fireside ; the poor were welcome, the 
hungry were fed, and the friendless made to feel that there 
was still in store for them sympathy and the kindness of 
cordial friendship. 

He early lost the wife of his youth, but in the wife of 
his old age he had a genuine helpmate, who participated 
in his desire to do good among his people, encouraged his 
hospitality, and set an example of prudence and dignity at 
the head of her household. 

They united with the little mission church on the same 
day, and reminded one of disciples at the feet of Jesus, 
when they listened to the words of the preacher, so child- 
like were their manners, and so trusting the expression 
of their countenances as they drank at the fountain of 
knowledge. 

The punishment of children in the schools often caused 
much trouble among parents, and Young-King proposed 
that there should be a committee appointed among the 
chiefs to visit the schools regularly, and encourage the 
teachers, by talking to the children of the necessity of 
obedience and order, and the importance of education ; 



DEATH OF YOUNG-KING. 219 

proving in all times of trouble an able and faithful coun- 
sellor, and a support in every good cause. 

Wicked white men often tempted him, in order to 
overcome his temperance resolutions and lead him into 
sin ; but he was always firm, and brought no dishonor, in 
any way, upon the cause which he had espoused. 

During the last war, he was on the side of the United 
States, and the remainder of his life received a pension of 
two hundred dollars a year, as compensation for his bra- 
very, and a wound which he received in performance of his 
meritorious services. 

He died in 1835, and lies in the Mission Burial-Ground, 
about four miles from Buffalo, where are also most of the 
distinguished men and women of the nation who have died 
in the last half century. It is a consecrated spot indeed 
to the Indian and to the mission, for there are the lost 
and loved ones of their own little families, and the first 
fruits of their labors among a pagan people, who received 
Christian burial. It was once a fort, and the soldiers' 
graveyard ; and warriors of many nations, and Christian 
pilgrims, and little children, whom Jesus took in his arms 
and blessed, now mingle their dust beneath the same 
green mounds ; and some of them will awake at the sound 
of the last trump on the resurrection morn, and enter to- 
gether the New Jerusalem. 



CHAPTEK XL 

INDIAN MAGNANIMITY ILLUSTRATED BY THE LIFE OF CORN- 
PLANTER. 

Wars develope warriors, and give an opportunity to 
tlie brave to display their heroism. Had there been no 
American Revolution, "Washington would probably have 
remained a quiet farmer on his estates, unknown to fame ; 
and had not war been the most glorious occupation ill 
which men could engage, thousands of others would have 
gone down to the grave unhonored and unsung. 

"With the Iroquois, war and oratory being the only 
fields of distinction, it is only the lives of orators and 
warriors that we have to record, in writing Indian history 

Cornplanter was scarcely less famous than Brandt, as 
his feet were, all his life, upon the war-path. The year of 
his birth cannot be ascertained with accuracy, but must 
have been as early as 1735. Like Farmer's Brother, he 
was in the battle which ended so disastrously for the 
British in Braddock's defeat, in 1755; and to the Indians 
alone the French owed all their victories, in the " old 
French war," as in an Indian country, with the primitive 
inhabitants so numerous as they were then, he who secured 
their alliance, must be morally certain of securing victory. 
Allowing Cornplanter to have been twenty years old at 
that time, and he could scarcely have been younger, his 




COKN PLANTER. 



CORNPLANTER. 221 

birthday was three years later than that of Washington. 
His father was a white man, and his mother an Indian of 
the Seneca nation, and his birthplace Conewango, in the 
valley of the Gene&ee River. There is very little for me 
to relate of him, though he lived more than a hundred 
years, and was ever on the alert, because I cannot follow 
him to the battle ground, and he lived in a time when it 
was thought little else was worth relating concerning a 
great man, except his great deeds. 

In a speech which he once wrote to the Governor of 
Pennsylvania, he says of himself: 

" AVhen I was a child, I played with the butterfly, the 
grasshopper, and the frogs ; and as I grew up, I began to 
pay some attention, and play with the Indian boys in the 
neighborhood ; they took notice of my skin being a dif- 
ferent color from theirs, and spoke about it. I inquired 
of my mother the cause, and she told me that my father 
was a resident in Albany. I still ate my food out of a 
bark dish. I grew up to be a young man, and married 
me a wife, and I had no kettle or gun. I then knew 
where my father lived, and went to see him, and found he 
was a white man, and spoke the English language. He 
gave me food while I was at his house, but when I started 
to return home, he gave me no provisions to eat on the 
way. He gave me neither kettle nor gun." 

It was the fate of all those who had as much white as 
red blood in their veins, to be rejected by the white pa- 
rent ; and they therefore had no alternative but to wed 
themselves to Indian customs, and be Indians in name, if 
not in reality. This sometimes infused a bitterness into 
their spirits, and made them doubly ferocious, when called 
to defend themselves against white enemies. 

During all the revolutionary war, Cornplanter was 
the ally of the British ; but when the hatchet was buried, 



222 THE IROQUOIS. 

and especially when the Indian was deserted by those for 
whom he had so faithfully fought, he became the friend 
of the United States, and never after wavered in his loy- 
alty to the Republic. In one of his war excursions, he 
sought his father's dwelling, and surprising him, made 
him a prisoner. The old man was in terror at falling into 
the hands of an Indian ; and, perhaps, would have feared 
more, if he had known that his captor was his son. But 
he did not recognize him till Cornplanter, after obliging 
him to march ten or twelve miles into the forest, leaving 
him all the while to imagine his fate, stepped up before 
him and said : 

" My name is John 0. Bail — commonly called Corn- 
planter. I am your son ! You are my father ! You are 
now my prisoner, and subject to the customs of Indian 
warfare. But you shall not be harmed — you need not 
fear. I am a warrior ! Many are the scalps I have 
taken ! many prisoners I have tortured to death ! I am 
your son ! I was anxious to see you, and greet you in 
friendship. I went to your cabin and took you by force. 
But your life shall be spared. Indians love their friends 
and their kindred, and treat them with kindness. If now 
you choose to follow the fortunes of your red son, and to 
live with our people, I will cherish your old age with 
plenty of venison, and you shall live easy. But if it is 
your choice to return to your fields, and live with your 
white children, I will send a party of my trusty young 
men to conduct you back in safety. I respect you, my 
father ; you have been friendly to Indians, and they are 
your friends." 

The father, of course, preferred his home and his 
white children ; and the promise was faithfully fulfilled, 
of escorting him in safety back to his cabin. One can 
easily imagine that the young Cornplanter intended to 



cornplanter's generosity. 223 

"heap coals of fire on his head," though he had never 
heard the Scripture injunction ; and in this instance, cer- 
tainly acted according to the golden rule, of doing as he 
would be done by. His father had rejected him; had 
never performed the parent's duty of sheltering him, or 
giving him food or clothes, or bestowed upon him a word 
of affection, or manifested in him any interest. That he 
had a son among them, may have softened his feelings 
towards Indians, and prompted him to befriend them ; 
but our impressions concerning the promptings of Indian 
blood, would lead us to expect retaliation for such neglect. 
We might expect him to ask, Why should the father love 
and cherish his white children, and leave him to run wild 
in the forest ? Very likely these thoughts passed through 
his mind, but no Christian mother ever more thoroughly 
inculcated the precept, " Honor thy father and thy 
mother, that thy days may be long in the land which the 
Lord thy God giveth thee," than the untaught Indian 
woman in the wilderness. If Cornplanter had fallen up- 
on his white brethren and sisters in auger, and meted out 
to them vengeance, on account of their being the Benja- 
mins of their father's household, we should have called it 
consistent with Indian character. But though he had it 
in his power at any time to cause them to be slain, or 
taken captive, he left them by their firesides in safety and 
peace. That he sometimes thought of the injustice he 
was experiencing, is evident from the ironical allusions he 
made to the peculiar embarrassment of neglected children, 
in his speeches. 

At one time, he, with several other Chiefs, was at a 
great dinner, given upon the ratification of a long-pending 
treaty. Wine being part of the entertainment. Corn- 
planter took his glass and said : 

" I thank the Great Spirit for this opportunity of 



224 THE IROQUOIS. 

smoking the pipe of friendship and love. May we plant 
our own vines, he the fathers of our own children^ and 
onaintain them ! " 

The Incliau name of Cornplanter was Ga-ne-o-di-yo, or 
Handsome Lake; and he had a half-brother, who became 
distinguished among the Iroquois as the founder of a new 
religion. Having spent his youth in dissipation, he sud- 
denly reformed, and announced that he had been commis- 
sioned by the Great Spirit as an apostle, endowed with 
supernatural gifts, and having a new revelation. At the 
time of his coiversion — if such it may be termed — he re- 
sided with Cornplanter, in a little village on the Alle- 
ghany River, in the State of Pennsylvania. 

During a severe illness, he pretended to have had a 
vision, and to have visited the world of spirits, where he 
was shown tortures inflicted upon the wicked, and also the 
happiness of the good. He was successful in obtaining 
the credence, not only of the people, but of the Chiefs ; 
and through his new doctrines, operated upon the super- 
stitious tendencies in the minds of those whom it was his 
office to reform, and was really the means of great good. 
He rejected some of the ancient Pagan ceremonies, and 
adopted new ones in their stead, and promulgated a code 
of morality, suited to their new condition and temptations. 

The Indians had a superstitious fear of conforming to 
the customs of white people — believing it would not be 
right for them to build similar houses, or wear similar 
clothes, or eat the same food. 

The new teacher convinced them that it would be im- 
possible for them to live longer in their old way, and that 
the Great Spirit had commissioned him to tell them they 
might now adopt the customs of pale-faces. But he 
threatened them with all the tortures which the evil- 
minded could inflict, if they did not cease to drink the 



CODE OF MORALITY. 225 

fire-water ; and so thoroughly did he inspire them with 
respect for himself, and faith in his divine mission, that 
there was soon visible a great change in the moral condi- 
tion of the people. 

Among his inventions for working upon their fears, 
were the particular torments designed for offenders of va- 
rious classes. 

He saw in the House of Torment a drunkard, obliged 
to drink a red-hot liquid, as this was an article he had 
always loved. After drinking, there issued from his 
mouth a stream of blaze. He was slowly consuming with 
his tortures. 

A man, who was in the habit of beating his wife, was 
led to the red-hot statue of a female, and requested to 
treat it as he had done his wife. He commenced beating 
it, and the sparks flew out and were continually burning 
him, but yet he would not consume. Thus would it be 
done to all who beat their wives. 

Those who sold fire-water to the Indians, would have 
their flesh eaten from their arms. 

Those who sold land to white people, would be for 
ever employed in removing heaps of sand, grain by grain. 

In a large field of corn, overrun with weeds, women 
were at work pulling them up ; but as fast as they were 
removed, they grew again — thus their work was never 
done. These were women who had been lazij^ and thus 
all indolent women would be punished. 

There was an appropriate punishment for those who 
were unkind to the aged and to children ; and he who in- 
stituted this new order of things, went from village to vil- 
lage, '■'• preaching and exhorting ; " and among all the 
unchristianized Indians, he was favorably received, few 
doubting his divine authority. 

By many, the scheme is thought to have originated 
10* 



226 THE IROQUOIS. 

with Cornplaiiter, and is certainly worthy his sagacious 
mind. But he who executed the plan, must have been a 
man of no ordinary genius They probably saw their 
race running to swift destruction, and thought to devise 
a way to arrest the destroyer. There was little hope of 
bringing them so speedily under the influence of Chris- 
tianity, as to produce the desired effect ; and in no way 
would there be much hope, but by appealing to their su- 
perstitious fears. 

The successor of the apostle is So-se-ha-wa, who is a 
sincere believer in the divine nature of the mission of 
Ga-ne-o-di-yo. At the convening of the mourning and 
religious councils, he repeats the message first delivered 
to the author of the new religion, and earnestly entreats 
all the people to heed his instructions. He is a man emi- 
nent for his virtues, and full of zeal in the performance 
of what he believes to be the duties of his holy office. 
He is a grandson of Ga-ne-o-di-yo, and nephew of Red 
Jacket. His birthplace was Ga-no-wau-ges, near the 
town of Avon, in 1774; and his present residence, Tona- 
wanda, in the county of Genesee. 

Cornplanter had for many years the enmity of a large 
portion of his people, on account of the course he took in 
selling lands and making treaties. His superior sagacity 
led him to see, that unless by formal treaty they parted 
with a portion, and secured to themselves another portion 
by the same means, they would again be involved in war, 
and be deprived of the whole. His motives were after- 
wards appreciated ; but during the trial he was often in 
danger of losing his life, so exasperated were the Indians 
at seeing their beloved country thus readily yielded up 
to their enemies, Cornplanter mourned as sincerely as 
they, but a wise policy dictated the course he pursued. 
In one of his appeals concerning a small territory, border- 



CORNPLANTER. 227 

ing upon Pennsylvania, occupied by Halftown and his 
people, which had been ceded by the treaty of Fort Stan- 
wix, and which they wished restored, he used the follow- 
ing language : 

'• They grew out of the land, and their fathers grew 
out of it, and they cannot be persuaded to part with it. 
It is a verij Little 'piece. We, therefore, entreat you to 
restore to us this little piece of land." 

It reminds one of the prayer of Lot : " Is it not a 
little cityV but it was not successful. Halftown and 
his people were obliged to move, and again fell trees and 
till new fields. It is not strange they were discouraged, 
and retrograded, instead of advancing in civilization. 

In 1790 Cornplanter visited Philadelphia in company 
with Rev. Mr. Kirkland, the celebrated missionary among 
the Iroquois, and Bigtree and Halftown. During the 
frequent interviews of the missionary with the great 
chief, the Cliristian religion was the theme of conversation, 
and Mr. Kirkland inclined to the opinion that Cornplanter 
became a believer in its doctrines, and also experienced 
the faith and indulged the hopes of the Christian. 

In Sparks' American Biography, I find the following 
extract from his journal concerning the event. 

" I do not now regret my journey. I think I never 
enjoyed more agreeable society with any Indian than 
Cornplanter has afforded me. He seems raised up by 
Providence for the good of his nation. He exhibits un- 
common genius, possesses a very strong and distinguishing 
mind, and will bear the most mental application of any 
Indian I was ever acquainted with. When the business 
he came upon did not require his immediate attention, he 
would be incessantly engaged in conversation upon the 
subject of divine revelation. He appeared anxious as well 
as curious, in his inquiries for the evidences of the Scrip- 



228 THE IROQUOIS. 

ture account of creation, the Christian scheme of doctrine, 
and the effects Christianity would produce upon the various 
nations of the earth, under the administration of the Son 
of God. No subject seemed to animate his mind, and 
excite his inquiries more, than the universal peace and 
harmony which should take place in the latter day. He 
would many times not leave the subject short of three or 
four hours' conversation. For the last week I was with 
them, he would not allow the Sachems and warriors to 
sit down at meal-time, without having me ask the divine 
blessing upon the food, and has never been intoxicated 
once during the whole course of his life. At our parting 
he observed to me, that his business with Congress was 
settled to his entire satisfaction, and he believed it would 
gratify every wish of his nation, and he should return 
home well stored with provisions by the way ; but through 
the wonderful good providence of God, he had a richer 
store of spiritual food, out of which he could take a por- 
tion for his mind to feed upon, and digest every day 
through his long journey ; and that he could not sufia- 
ciently thank the Great Spirit for giving him this oppor- 
tunity of being so long with me," 

The Indians were accustomed to call Washington '• The 
Town Destroyer," on account of the destruction his armies 
caused wherever they went ; but after he became President, 
his patient attention to their appeals, and promptness in 
redressing their grievances, acquired for him the title of 
Father, and gained for him the love of the Indians, that 
was like the love of children. 

The following extracts are from a long appeal, made 
to Washington by Cornplanter and other chiefs, setting 
forth their wrongs, and asking justice. 

The speech of Cornplanter, Halftown, and Bigtree, 



cornplanter's appeal. 229 

chiefs and couucillors of the Seneca Nation, to the Great 
Councillor of the Thirteen Fires. 

" Father : — The voice of the Seneca nation speaks to 
you, the great councillor, in whose heart the wise men of 
all the Thirteen Fires have placed their wisdom. It may 
be very small in your ears, and we therefore entreat you to 
hearken with attention ; for we speak of things which are 
to us very great. When your army entered the country 
of the Six Nations, we called you the Town Destroyer ; 
and to this day when that name is heard, our women look 
behind them and turn pale, and our children cling to the 
necks of their mothers. Our councillors and warriors are 
men, and cannot be afraid ; but their hearts are grieved 
with the fears of our women and children, and desire that 
it may be buried so deep as to be heard no more. When 
you gave us peace we called you Father, because you 
promised to secure us in the possession of our lands. Do 
this, and so long as the lands shall remain, that beloved 
name shall live in the heart of every Seneca." 

Then follows a long and particular account of the 
treaty by which the Indians had given up their land ; how 
they had been deceived, and were threatened with war if 
they did not comply with all that was demanded — and 
proceeds : 

" Upon this threat, our chiefs held a council, and they 
agreed that no event of war could be worse than to be 
driven with our wives and children from the only country 
which we had any right to. 

" Astonished at what we heard from every quarter, 
with hearts aching with compassion for our women and 
children, we were compelled to give up all our country 
north of the line of Pennsylvania, &c. 

" Father : You have said that wo were in your hand, 

and that by closing it you could crush us to nothing. Arc 



230 THE IROQUOIS. 

you determined to crush us ? If you are, tell us so ; that 
those of our nation who have become your children, and 
have determined to die so, may know what to do. 

" In this case, one chief has said he would ask you to 
put him out of pain. Another, who will not think of dying 
by the hand of his father or his brother, has said he will 
retire to the Chateaugay, eat of the fatal root, and sleep 
with his fathers in peace. 

" Before you determine on a measure so unjust, look 
up to God, who has made us as well as you. We hope he 
will not permit you to destroy the whole of our nations. 

" The Chippewas and all the nations westward, call us 
and ask us, — ' Brothers of our Fathers, where is the place 
you have preserved for us to lie down upon ? ' You have 
compelled us to do that which has made us ashamed. We 
have nothing to answer to the children of the brothers of 
our fathers. 

'•Father : — We will not conceal from you that the Great 
God, and not man, has preserved the Cornplanter from the 
hands of his own nation. For they ask continually, 
' Where is the land which our children and their children 
after them, are to lie down upon 1 ' He is silent, for he 
has nothing to answer. When the sun goes down he opens 
his heart before God, and earlier than the sun appears upon 
the hills, he gives thanks for his protection during the 
night ; for he feels that among men, become desperate by 
their danger, it is God only who can preserve them. He 
loves peace, and all that he had in store, he has given- to 
those who have been robbed by your people, lest they 
should slander the innocent to repay themselves. The 
whole season which others have employed in providing for 
their families, he has spent in his endeavors to preserve 
peace ; and at this moment his wife and children are ly- 
ing on the ground, and in want of food ; his heart is in 



cornplanter's appeal. 231 

pain Xor them, but he perceives that the Great God will 
try his firmness in doing what is right. 

" Father ; — The game which the Great Spirit sent into 
our country for us to eat, is going from among us ; we 
thought that He intended that we should till the land 
with the plough, as the white people do, and we talked to 
one another about it. But before we speak to you con- 
cerning this, we must know from you whether you mean to 
leave us and our children any land to till. 

" Father : — Innocent men of our nation are killed one 
after another, and our best families ; but none of your 
people who committed the murders have been punished. 

" Father : — These are to us very great things. We 
know that you are very strong, and we have heard that 
you are wise, and we wait to hear your answer to what we 
have said, that we may know that you are just." 

It was not in the power of Washington to perform all 
the Chiefs asked, but he promised that all he could do 
should be done, and expressed the kindest sympathy in 
their sufferings, saying : — 

" The merits of Cornplanter, and his friendship for 
the United States, are well known to me, and shall not be 
forgotten ; and, as a mark of esteem of the United States, 
I have directed the Secretary of War to make him a pre- 
sent of two hundred and fifty dollars, either in money or 
goods, as the Cornplanter shall like best." 

So they returned home soothed and comforted. In 
the answer which Cornplanter made he said : — 

" Father : — Your speech written on the great paper, 
is to us like the morning to the sick man, whose pulse 
beats too strongly in his temples, and prevents him from 
sleep. He sees it and rejoices, but is not cured. 

" Father : — You give us leave to speak our minds con- 
cerning the tilling of the ground. We ask you to teach 



232 THE IROQUOIS. 

US to plough and to grind corn ; to assist us in building 
saw-mills, and to supply us witli broadaxes, saws, augers, 
and other tools, so as that we make our houses more com- 
fortable and more durable ; that you will send smiths 
among us, and, above all, that you will teach our children 
to read and write, and our women to spin and weave," 

Whilst Cornplanter was absent several murders were 
committed among his people by white men, and some, of 
the best families, were destroyed. He then made another 
appeal for protection, and did all in his power to quiet the 
revengeful feelings of those who had been injured ; thus 
proving that he was sincere in his professions of friend- 
ship and love of peace. 

At the very time that he was about to depart as an 
ambassador of peace to the Western Indians, '* three of 
his people were travelling through a settlement upon the 
Genesee, and stopped at a house to light their pipes. 
There happened to be several white men within, one of 
whom, as the foremost Indian stooped down to light his 
pipe, killed him with an axe, another of the party was 
badly wounded with the same weapon whilst escaping from 
the house." 

When Cornplanter heard of this, he did not plan re- 
venge, and instigate his men to slay the first white men 
they met in return ; but commanded his warriors to let 
their tomahawks remain sheathed, and only said, " It is 
hard, when I and my people are trying to make peace for 
the white people, that we should be thus rewarded. I 
can govern my young men and warriors better than the 
Thirteen Fires can theirs." 

This was a magnanimity worthy of a Christian, and 
had it originated with a Grecian or Roman conqueror, or 
in any other than an Indian bosom, would have been writ- 
ten in letters of gold, and presented by ever}^ mother to 



CORNPLANTER. 233 

her son as a worthy example. But how few are there yet 
that ever heard of an Indian who thought of any thing 
but revenge for injuries. 

When Washington was about to retire from the Pres- 
idency, Cornplanter made a special visit to the seat of 
government to bid him farewell, and again ask his atten- 
tion to the condition of his people. After stating the 
several points which he wished him to consider, he con- 
cludes : '• Father, I congratulate j-ou on your intended re- 
ppse from the fatigues and anxiety of mind, which are con- 
stant attendants on high public stations, and hope that the 
same good Spirit which has so long guided your steps as 
a father to a great nation, will still continue to protect 
you, and make your private reflections as pleasant to your- 
self as your public measures have been useful to your 
people." 

This was the last interview between the two chiefs of 
a widely diiferent people, both richly endowed by nature, 
to be so variously favored by fortune. Washington lived 
but a little while longer, and went down to the grave amid 
the lamentations of a nation, with a name on which has 
been bestowed the homage of a world ; and Cornplanter 
retired to his secluded cabin in the forest, to live forty 
years, devoted to humble efforts for the elevation of his 
people ; to die alone, with a name which has been almost 
forgotten. 

The remainder of his life Cornplanter lived very 
quietly, always on friendly terms with white people, and 
earnestly engaged in promoting agriculture, and all the 
arts of civilization among his people. He was a profess- 
ing Christian, and always welcomed the clergymen and 
teachers to his humble abode. In 1816 he was visited 
by Rev. Mr. Alden, President of Alleghany College, who 
speaks with delight of the improvements which had been 



234 THE IROQUOIS. 

made under the fostering care of the old cliief, — of the 
large fields of buckwheat, corn, and oats ; the great 
number of sheep, oxen, and horses that seemed at home, 
and perfectly domesticated on Indian lands. Cornplanter 
testified his joy at seeing Christian friends, by performing 
the offices of servant himself, and going into the field and 
mowing the grass for their horses. He was the owner at 
that time of thirteen hundred acres of land on the banks 
of the Alleghany, and six hundred were occupied by 
Indians, whose comfortable dwellings and cultivated 
fields formed a thriving village. 

The following is an appeal to the Society of Friends 
by Cornplanter, imploring their aid in promoting agri- 
culture and education among his people. 

" Brothers : — The Seneca nation see that the Grreat 
Spirit intends they should not continue to live by hunt- 
ing, and they look around on every side, and inquire who 
it is that shall teach them what is best for them to do. 
Your fathers dealt honestly by our fathers. They have 
engaged us to remember it, and we wish our children to 
be taught the same principles by which our fathers were 
guided. 

" Brothers : — We cannot teach our children what we. 
perceive their situation requires them to know. We 
have too little wisdom among us. We wish them 
to be instructed to read and write, and such other 
things as you teach your children — especially the love 
of peace." 

He died March 7th, 1836, and was buried beneath a 
spreading tree in his own field, but no stone or monument 
marks his grave. A century hence, when it is too late, a 
proud and peerless nation will wake up to their guilt, 
and their duty to a peculiar, if not a chosen people : 



cornplanter's son. 235 

"But they -will all have passed away, 
The noble race and brave ; " 

and then will commence the lamentations, that those who 
had it in their power should have looked so indiffer- 
ently on whilst they wasted away. 

Cornplanter had a son, " a boy of fine spirit" and 
promise," who was sent to Philadelphia for the benefit of 
an English education, under the care of the Quakers, who 
placed him in a suitable school and directed his studies. 

He was not only received into good society, but ca- 
ressed. On one occasion, being at a ball, while dancing 
with a beautiful girl, the jealousy of one of the 3'oung 
gentlemen present was excited, and he gave vent to his 
vexation by muttering the dislike he felt at seeing the 
young lady " dance with a damned Indian." The 
quick ear of young Henry caught the sound, and after 
the figure was ended, having invited the young swain to 
the head of the stairs, he thrust him out, and gave him 
a push which sent him headlong down. " There," said 
he, '• you may now boast that you have been kicked down 
stairs by a damned Indian." 

But Henry had been too long the wild boy of the 
mountains, to be pleased with confiqement, or bear pa- 
tiently his monotonous exercises. He wasted and pined 
till he became pale and emaciated. He was very courte- 
ous in manners, and had the suavity peculiar to the forest 
Chieftain. " My sister," he would say,—'' my sister is 
not here, and there is another who is not with me." He 
thirsted for the bright waters of his native valley, and 
longed to breathe once more the pure air of the Alle- 
ghanies. The crowded streets of the city had no charms 
for him. He stayed but a few months, and bursting 
from his confinement, bounded back with the alacrity of 



236 THE IROQUOIS. 

a wounded deer, to the green mountain haunts of his 
boyhood, the sweet tones of his sister, and the gentle 
cooings of his forest dove. 

The following year Mr. N , a gentleman from 

Philadelphia, who had known the Chief there, came on 
an errand of agency to our country, where he has since 
resided. Having no acquaintance here, and feeling a deep 
interest in his young friend, he penetrated through the 
dark wilds of Potts and McKean, and soon found him- 
self at the village of the Cornplanter. Henry welcomed 
him cordially, presenting him to his father, his sister, 
and his friends ; but there was a sadness visible in his 
countenance, a quick restlessness in his movements, which 

betrayed how deep were the workings within. Mr. N 

then asked him for the gentle dove he had described to 
him in days gone by. '' She is gone," said he, and led 
him to her grave. Here, Harry, after the custom of 
white people, had planted flowers, not the forget-me-not, 
nor the rose, nor the myrtle, but pale spring violets, re- 
freshing them with his tears, and breathing from this 
hallowed spot his invocations to the Great Spirit. 

He was in the war of 1812, and a gallant soldier 
under General Porter, but very sorrowful is the story of 
his after life, and dark indeed was the day of his death ; 
but I will not relate it, to become an instrument of 
universal accusation against his people, who have been 
too long and too often judged by individual instances of 
degeneracy. 



CHAPTER XII. 



TRATED IN THE LIFE OF LOGAN. 

The Indian name of Logan has scarcely been heard or 
written, as the one by which he was familiarly known 
was given him in childhood by his father, in memory of a 
dear friend, a white man, Charles Logan. His Indian 
name was Tal-ga-yee-ta, and his father was a Cayuga 
Chief, whose house was on the borders of Cayuga Lake. 

There has been much dispute about the events of Lo- 
gan's life, and the speech which has rendered his name 
immortal, has been ascribed to others — even to a white 
man. But Mr. Jefferson, who first gave publicity to this 
proof of his eloquence, and to his sorrows, has taken 
special pains to verify his narrative, and proved that the 
words which have thrilled a million of heart-strings, were 
uttered by Logan, and by no other. 

He inherited his gifts and his noble nature from his 
father, who was ever the friend of peace, and who was ever 
the white man's friend. His wigwam was known far and 
near, as the abode of hospitality, and friendship, and kind- 
ness. It was a wigwam, but there was something of the 
halo about it which invested a feudal castle, in the days 
of English chivalry and romance. Those who gathered 
around the cordial fire, which was lighted for every stran- 
ger, by the forest chieftain, felt the independence which 
the lone traveller did in some old baronial hall; and he 



238 THE IROQUOIS. 

who presided at the feast, to which all were welcome, was 
not less noble, or less dignified than an English lord. 
Had there been a pen to record his hospitality and table 
talk, there would most probably have been seen in it more 
of wisdom than entered into the discourse of many a 
prince or potentate. But alas ! for forest eloquence, it was 
wafted only by the breeze, and its echoes died away in the 
forest. 

Logan moved in early life to the banks of the Juniata, 
which is a beautiful river, flowing through a wild romantic 
country, watered also by the Susquehanna. In a pleasant 
valley he built his cabin, and married a Shawnee wife. 
Thus he became identified with the Shawnese and Dela- 
wares, though belonging to the Six Nations. And it was 
thus that he became the victim of those lawless marauders, 
who believed Indians every where lawful prey, when they 
could slaughter them with impunity. 

Logan had listened in boyhood to the instructions of 
=the Moravian missionaries, and their gentle manners and 
soothing words, had probably influenced his character. 
Whether he was a Christian, I know not ; but there are 
many who bear the name, in whom there is far less exem- 
plification of Christian principle. There was about him a 
quiet and softened dignity, a refinement of sentiment and 
delicacy of feeling, which characterizes none but the lofty, 
and exhales from none but the pure. His house, like his 
father's, was the Indian's and the white man's home, the 
dwelling place of love. Alas ! that the milk of human kind- 
ness in his bosom, should ever have been turned to gall, 
by bitter and corroding wrongs. In his childhood, a little 
cousin had been taken captive by white men, under aggra- 
vating circumstances, but for this he did not become the 
white man's foe. " Forgive and forget," was his motto, in 
all things that could be forgiven and forgotten ; and he 



LOGAN. 239 

lived to be an aged man, before vengeance took possession 
of his soul. 

In all the country where he dwelt he was known, and 
to every cottage Logan was welcome ; terror did not creep 
into the heart of woman, nor fear fall upon the little child, 
when his footsteps were heard at their doors. And this, 
as was afterwards proved, was not because he had not all 
the traits which make a brave warrior, but from a settled 
principle that all men were brothers, and should love one 
another. 

He set forth at one time on a hunting expedition, and 
was alone in the forest. Two white hunters were engaged 
in the same sport, and having killed a bear in a wild gorge, 
were about to rest beside a bubbling spring, when they 
saw an Indian form reflected in the water. They sprang 
to their feet and grasped their rifles, but the Indian bent 
forward and struck the rifles from their hands, and spilt 
the powder from their flasks. Then stretching forth his 
open palm in token of friendship, he seated himself beside 
them and won his way to their hearts. For a week they 
roamed together, hunting and fishiug by day, and sleeping 
by the same fire at night. It was Logan, and henceforth 
their brother. He pursued his way over the AUeghanies, 
and they returned to their homes, never again to point 
the gun at an Indian's heart. 

Some white men on a journey stopped at his cabin to 
rest. For amusement a shooting match was proposed, at 
which the price was to be a dollar a shot. During the 
sport Logan lost five shots, and when they had finished, 
he entered his lodge and brought five deer-skins for the 
redemption of his forfeit, as a dollar a skin was the estab- 
lished price in the market, and the red man's money. But 
his guests refused to take them, saying they had only been 
shooting for sport, and wished no forfeit. But the honor- 



240 THE IROQUOIS. 

able Indian would take no denial, replying, " If you had 
lost the shots I should have taken your dollars, but as I 
have lost, take my skins." 

Another time he wished to buy grain, and took his 
skins to a tailor, who adulterated the wheat, thinking the 
Indian ivould 7iot know. But the miller informed him, 
and advised him to apply to a magistrate for redress. He 
went to a Mr. Brown, who kindly saw that his loss was 
made up, for Logan came often to his house, and he knew 
his noble heart and grieved to see him wronged. As he 
was waiting the decision of the magistrate, he played with 
a little girl, who was just trying to walk, and the mother 
remarked that she needed some shoes, which she was not 
able to purchase for her. 

The child was very fond of Logan, and loved to sit 
upon his knee, and when he went away was ready to go 
too. He asked the mother if he might take her to his 
cabin for the day, and she, knowing well the attention 
which would be bestowed upon her in the Indian's lodge, 
consented. Towards night there was some anxiety about 
the little one, but the shades of evening had scarcely be- 
gun to deepen, when Logan was seen wending his way to 
the cottage with his precious charge ; and when he placed 
her in her mother's arms, she saw upon her feet a tiny 
pair of moccasins, neatly wrought, that his own hands had 
made. Was this not a delicate way of showing gratitude, 
and expressing friendship ? Was it a rude and savage 
nature that prompted this attention to a little child, to 
make glad a mother's heart ? Not all the refined teach- 
ings of civilization could have invented a more beautiful 
tribute of sympathy and grateful affection. 

Logan was never tempted by friend or foe to touch the 
fire-water to his lips, till after wrongs kindled revenge in 
his soul. 



Logan's wrongs. 241 

He adopted few of the customs, and rejected all the 
vices of civilization. This dignity and politeness were 
Indian characteristics, and are found universally among 
his people. 

But in an evil day the enemy found his way to the 
peaceful cabin in the forest, and darkness shrouded all 
the remainder of the good man's life. 

Had Logan remained farther north, and preserved his 
identity with the Six Nations, he would probably have been 
spared the woes which fell so thickly upon him. The 
Iroquois were still formidable, and neither armies nor in- 
dividuals ventured to insult them without provocation. 
If it had been known that he was a Sachem, and one of 
the chief men of his tribe, he would have been left unmo- 
lested. But the sin would have been as great of desolat- 
ing a home, the inmates of which were peaceful unoflfend- 
ing women and children. 

A little company of military men were on their way to 
the west, and encamped in the vicinity of Logan's cabin. 
Not by the authority of their captain, but unknown to 
him, two or three set off in the night to inflict any injury 
which might be in their power upon the Indians they had 
heard were near. The husband and father was absent, 
but they lured one brother into the forest, and murdered 
him in cold blood, and then returned to destroy another 
as cruelly, and then shot the mother and little ones, leav- 
ing all upon the floor weltering in blood. Logan returned 
to find his cabin tenanted only by the dead, and vengeance 
for the first time was kindled in his bosom, and burned 
like a raffing flame in his soul. Now he became the white 
man's foe, and incited every son of the forest to slay 
without mercy their common enemy. Thus commenced 
the long and frightful Indian war which filled the whole 
land with terror, and for ten years stained our historical 
U 



242 THE IROQUOIS. 

records with Indian atrocities, unparalleled in our colo- 
nial or national experience. The quiet peaceful homes of 
white men were invaded, and women and children either 
killed or carried away captive ; but then it was not known 
why these outrages were committed. They were ascribed 
to Indian love of war, and carnage, and bloodshed ; but 
wherever Indian cruelty may be traced, it will be found to 
have been preceded by acts more cruel and heartless on 
the part of white men 

Stranger, — there are who think and write 
The Indian's soul untouched with light, 
And that to him belongs the guilt 
For all the blood his hand hath spilt ! 
Like mine, his friendly homes among, 
They would have known God never made, 
A heart all darkness, and how long 
The Indian bore aggressive wi"ong. 
Old Logan was the white man's friend ; 
But injuries forced his lore to end ; 
Of children, wife, and kindred shorn, 
None left for him to joy or mourn, 
He rose in calm, vindictive ire, 
Beside his nation's council fire, 
And bade them, by their fathers slain, 
No more in voiceless peace remain. 
But lift the brand, and battle cry. 
For vengeance, if not victory ! 

" Welcome, Englishmen ! welcome. Englishmen ! " 
was the pleasant greeting our fathers heard on the shores 
of New England ; and a similar hospitality was extended 
to all who came, by this unsuspicious and trusting people. 

In 1774, a deputation was sent to treat with the 
Sachems and chiefs, and to endeavor to appease their 
revenge. But Logan was a long time in yielding. No 
persuasion could induce him to attend a council that was 



SPEECH OF LOGAN. 243 

to treat of peace. He would not talk with white men of 
peace. It was useless to contend longer, he knew — they 
might as well submit. There was no hope for the Indian 
but to flee before the armed legions which were pursuing 
them, but he would never be their friend. 

At length Gen. Gleson, who was one of the deputation, 
followed him into the depths of the forest ; and there, 
seated upon a fallen tree, with Cornstalk, the venerable 
Shawnee chief by his side, he was induced to sign the 
treaty which all the other Sachems had signed before 
him, but not till he had repeated the heart-rending story 
of his wrongs, and the wrongs of his people. It was like 
wringing out his heart's blood to see them thus wasting 
away. They fell in thousands before the sword, and tens 
of thousands before the still more desolating scourge of 
the fire-water ; and while he talked, the tears coursed 
down his furrowed cheeks, and his keen sensibilities were 
quickened to the intensest sufl'ering. Here it was that 
he made the speech which is familiar to every English 
tongue. 

The name of Cresap appears in the speech, as Logan 
thought he was with the men at the time of the murders. 
The details of the transaction vary in almost every account 
given of them, but as I have no room for discussions, I give 
the best authenticated narrative, and transcribe the speech 
as it first appeared in " Jefi"erson's Notes on Virginia," 
in which he challenges all the authors of antiquity to pro- 
duce any thing superior. 

SPEECH or LOGAN. 

•' I appeal to any white man to say, if ever he entered 
Logan's cabin hungry, and he gave him no meat ; if ever 
he came cold and naked, and he clothed him not. Durmg 



244 THE IROQUOIS. 

the course of the last long and bloody war, Logan re- 
mained in his cabin, an advocate for peace. Such was 
my love for the whites, that my countrymen pointed as 
they passed, and said, ' Logan is the friend of white men.' 
Col. Cresap, the last spring, in cold blood, and unpro- 
voked, murdered all the relations of Logan, not even 
sparing my women and children. There runs not a drop 
of my blood in any living creature. This called on me 
for revenge. I have sought it. I have killed many. I 
have fully glutted my vengeance. For my country I re- 
joice at the beams of peace. But do not harbor a thought 
that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. He 
will not turn on his heel to save his life. AVho is there 
to mourn for Logan? Not one." 

Never again did Logan possess a home. He wandered 
about for many years from settlement to settlement, rest- 
less, moody, and unhappy, and finally laid himself down 
in the forest to die. '• There were none to mourn for 
Logan;" but very truly Jefferson remarks, " his talents 
and misfortunes have attached to him the respect and 
commiseration of a world." 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE DARKEST PAGE OF INDIAN HISTORY. 

The history of Treaties is by far the darkest of all the 
pages of Indian history. War and bloodshed are ter- 
rible, — terrible indeed ; the stories of massacres chill the 
blood in our veins ; and the bitter strife of war is revolt- 
ing to all the finer feelings of our nature. But there has 
been a far more bitter strife of treaties, at which the 
heart bleeds, and the spirit moans. 

When the Six Nations were fairly subdued, and settled 
on the free reservations which were left to them in the 
western part of New York, if they could have remained 
undisturbed, and experienced no more wrong or dishonor, 
they would soon have adopted the arts of civilization ; 
and, through the instructions of the missionaries, have 
become a Christian people. 

But the echo of the warwhoop and the booming cannon 
had no sooner died away, than there came among them an 
army of serpents in human form, wearing the semblance 
of angels of light. These were land speculators ; and 
there is no species of bribery or corruption within the 
power of man to which they did not resort, iu order to 
drive the Indians entirely from our borders. 

By this means they were kept in a constantly unset- 
tled state, so that for many years the labors of the mis- 
sionaries seemed utterly in vain. Some of the chiefs 



246 THE IROQUOIS. 

would now and then yield to bribery, and some to decep- 
tion, and conclude to give up all they possessed, and 
remove beyond the Mississippi. And, as late as 1846, 
an emigration party was formed, and more than a hundred 
departed to the western wilds, where more than half of 
them perished before the end of a year. 

By a gross and wicked fraud, the Buffalo reservation 
was finally obtained, so that the Indians were all obliged 
to move from their comfortable homes and well-tilled 
fields, and commence anew in the forests to fell trees, and 
plough, and plant, and sow. By a similar fraud, the 
Tonawanda reservation was claimed ; but the chiefs and 
people would not remove, saying the treaty had never 
been signed by any member of those Vv-ho had the power 
to make contracts, and they had no desire to part with 
another acre of their lands to white men. So the case is 
still in the courts, where thousands of dollars have been 
spent in an offensive and defensive war of words and 
quibbles. But the Indians now have lawyers among 
themselves, and firm friends and able counsellors among 
white people, and it is hoped the right will yet prevail. 

During these troublous times there were many afi"ect- 
ing appeals made to societies and the Government, which, 
one would think, might melt hearts of stone, and prove, 
too, that eloquence did not die with Red Jacket or Corn- 
planter. 

These troubles, too, rallied around them many friends, 
especially among the Quakers, and awakened sympathy 
and renewed effort in their behalf A few extracts from 
letters, written by those who defended them in the hour 
of their calamity, and from the speeches of some of their 
Chiefs, a few of whom are still living, will give some idea 
of what the Indian is in a civilized state, when literally 
seated by his fireside. 



REPORT UPON THE INDIANS. 247 

Extract from a Report, made by a deputation of 
Friends, to investigate the true nature of the differences 
between the land speculators and the Indians : — 

'• It has been common for those who would deprive 
the Indians of their lands, first to describe them as igno- 
rant, or stupid, or savage ; and then, ' for such worthy 
cause, to deem them as their lawful prey,' to put them 
out of the pale of civilization, and then shut upon them 
the gate of mercy. 

" But it is not true, that these remnants of the Six Na- 
tions are either barbarous or vicious. On the contrary, 
they are an innocent and improving people. Feeling their 
own weakness they have been forced to yield to oppression 
and injury; but they are neither quarrelsome nor vindic- 
tive. They are the remnant of a bold, warlike, and highly 
gifted race ; fallen indeed from the dizzy height of a tre- 
mendous political and physical power, but bearing that 
fall with patience and dignity : inspiring respect, and ren- 
dering them objects of intense interest to the philanthro- 
pist and philosopher. 

" These New York Indians, like all other communities 
of mankind, present great varieties of character and 
grades of intellect, but as a people, perhaps none of the 
aborigines of North America have equalled them in all 
the manifestations of mental power. They have not had 
the use of letters to store their minds with knowledge, or 
to record their own achievements ; yet we know that they 
have had many great and talented men among them, who, 
making a very moderate allowance for the want of educa- 
tion, would not suffer by comparison with the greatest of 
European competitors. They have from the earliest times 
been considered a very extraordinary race, distinguished 
from all the surrounding nations by their capacity for ne- 



248 THE IROQUOIS. 

gotiatioD, eloquence, and war. Remarkable for the love 
of liberty, they scorned submission to foreign control. 
Baron La Houtan says of them, ' They laugh at the 
menaces of kings and governors, for they have no idea of 
dependence — the very word to them is insupportable. 
They look upon themselves as sovereigns, accountable to 
none but God, whom they call the Great Spirit.' 

" De Witt Clinton in his history of the Six Nations in- 
forms us, that they held supremacy over a country of 
amazing extent and fertility, inhabited by warlike and 
numerous nations, which must have been the result of 
unity of design and system of action, proceeding from a 
wise and energetic policy, continued for a long course of 
time. That in eloquence and dignity, and in all the cha- 
racteristics of personal policy, they surpass an assembly 
of feudal barons. 

" Their territory was estimated at 1,200 miles long by 
700 broad, including the great lakes or inland seas which 
bound our possessions to the north. Among their orators 
they had a Garangula, a Cornplanter, a Red Jacket, and 
a Big Kettle, of whom an elegant writer has said, ' they 
were men whose majesty of mind shone with a lustre that 
no belittling appellations could bedim.' President Jeffer- 
son says, ' I may challenge the whole orations of Demos- 
thenes and Cicero, and of any more eminent orator, if 
Europe has furnished more eminent, to produce a single 
passage superior to the speech of Logan ; yet this Logan 
was the son of a Cayuga chief, a Sachem of the New York 
Indians.' 

'" When the news spread among them that the treaty 
was signed, and their land sold, there was unutterable 
sorrow. To the poor Senecas it was ' a day of darkness 
and of gloominess, of clouds and of thick darkness,' 
through which a ray of gladness could not penetrate. 



APPEAL OF THE INDIANS. 249 

Consternation and gloom covered their settlements. Their 
women were seen on all sides weeping in their houses — 
along their roads — as they passed to their occupations, 
and in the fields whilst engaged in their labors. One of 
their chiefs, in a speech on the occasion said, ' It seems 
as if we should be worn down. When we see our fields 
covered with grain, and our orchards loaded with fruit, 
it only increases our sorrows.' The settled and expres- 
sive gloom that was manifested upon their countenances 
and deportment attested the reality of their sorrows. 

" The cruelty of the attempt to drive the Indians away 
at this time was enhanced by the consideration that with- 
in the last half century, under the care of Friends, they 
had made great advances in civilization. They had good 
houses, barns, horses, wagons, horned cattle, sheep, swine, 
and farming utensils. They had places of worship and 
schools, many of them could read and write, and had books 
and private libraries. They had good farms, and some 
skill in agriculture. It would be far less cruel to drive 
the surrounding white population into the deserts beyond 
the Missouri, than to send there the Seneca Indians. The 
former would soon gather around them all the comforts 
of life — the latter would soon scatter, or perish for ever." 

The following is a communication to the Society of 
Friends at Baltimore, from twenty Chiefs of the Seneca 
Nation, making known their troubles. 

Cattaraugus in Council, Oct. 5, 1845. 
To THE Committee of Friends, 

" Brothers : — We are informed you are soon to hold 
a great Council in Baltimore, on the subject of our affairs. 
We pray the Great Spirit may strengthen you, and give you 
wisdom and direct you aright in all your deliberations. 
11* 



250 THE IROQUOIS. 

'•' Brothers : — We know you love us ; the Great Spirit 
has taught you to do so. Your ears have been open to 
hear our cries, and your hearts inclined to help us in our 
distress. We cannot reward you ; we have nothing to 
give you in return but our love and gratitude. This you 
have full and complete. 

" Brothers : — When your fathers were weak and ours 
were strong, the Great Spirit led them to believe you 
were their friends ; they helped you in your childlike con- 
dition. Things have changed ! You have become great 
and strong, and we poor and weak. You are now paying 
us for what our fathers have done. 

" Brothers : — Our troubles are great indeed. This 
you are sensible of, and have done much to relieve us in 
our distress ; but the chains of the white men have grown, 
and continue to grow tight upon us at the loss and expense 
of our substance. They multiply, and become too heavy 
for us to endure. 

" Brothers : — We have none (on earth) to look to for 
aid and protection, but you. When you forsake us, all is 
lost. Our wives and daughters wet their pillows with 
their tears, and pray the Great Spirit to keep your ears 
open that you may hear their cries, 

" Brothers : — We have but little to say ; our mouths 
are almost closed. Our hopes are in j^ou. Farewell." 

Extract from an address to the Committee of the 
Four Yearly Meetings of Friends of New York, Phila- 
delphia, Baltimore and Genesee, by several Indian 
Chiefs. 

" When we turn our faces backward, and look over the 
histories of the past, we find that more than fifty winters 
have gone by since the Iroquois, or Six Nations, first se- 



SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. 251 

lected the Society of Friends as their fne7ids, upon whom 
they could repose confidence without fear of being be- 
trayed. 

" The selection was made from the sects and denomi- 
nations of those who styled themselves Christians, at the 
time when war had diminished the members of the Iroquois 
braves — when the Iroquois bowstring had been broken — 
when his council fires were nearly put out by the blood of 
his people, and the loud thundering voices of the big iron 
guns of the pale faces caused the ground to tremble beneath 
his feet, and his council house to shake to its very foun- 
dation — when oppression crushed the Iroquois, and cruelty 
made his heart bleed — when murder and robbery com- 
mitted upon the red man, brought bounty to the spoiler 
committing the foul deed, — when the pale-faces, lik/ 
hungry hounds, chased the red man from his hunting 
grounds. 

" It was then that the red man's sun was darkened, and 
the Great Spirit had drawn his sable garment before its 
shining face, and left his red children to roam in gloom 
and uncertainty. In looking round, the Iroquois saw 
none to assist him in his struggles for liberty, his country, 
and his firesides, — he found no sympathy from the pale- 
faced Christians, save from the Society of Friends, who, 
with the true principle of the spirit of Christianity 
implanted in their breast, guided by the dictation of the 
Good Spirit, and following the counsel and mandates of 
Him who never, errs, came to our relief; not with 
powder, bullets, or arms, but with sympathy in their 
bosoms, pity in their hearts, and friendship in their hands; 
and our tradition informs us, that since the time this 
alliance was established between the Society of Friends 
and our people ; nothing has occurred to mar our mutual 



252 THE IROQUOIS. 

understanding, or tarnish the chain of friendship that 
bound us together. 

*' Brothers : — "We hope that you may teach your chil- 
dren to love and pity the red man ; so that when the 
Master of life and light shall call you hence, your red bro- 
thers may still have friends like you, and the good under- 
standing now existing between us, be for ever perpetuated 
and cherished between your posterity and ours. For the 
services you have rendered us, accept the gratitude of an 
injured and oppressed race, and may the Great Spirit 
watch over and protect you." 

There were not at any time more than a fifteenth part 
of the whole nation in favor of removal, and the consent 
of those few was obtained by misrepresentation and 
bribery, for which sums were paid in different ways and 
at different times to the amount of $32,000. And yet at 
one time every rood of land was ceded, and the process 
of removal commenced. It is due to the Society of 
Friends to state, that it was through their persevering 
instrumentality that this great calamity was averted. 

Among the most noble and venerable of the Seneca 
Chiefs was 

Big Kettle. 

In his bosom glowed the loftiest patriotism, and on his 
brow beamed the purest philanthropy. To him the sor- 
roAvs of his people were the seeds of death ; they ate into 
his heart, and drank his life-blood. He mourned over 
their desolation and wept over their sins. 

" Oh, is there nothing we can do ? " said he one morn- 
ing to Mr. Wright, the missionary, who remained among 
them when there was little he could do but encourage 
them to resist unto the end, and pray that their strength 
might not fail and who stood by them, ready for any 



SPEECH OF BIG KETTLE. 253 

service, in the darkest hours of their adversity. " Is 
there nothing more we can do ? Yes, let us continue to 
petition," was the answer, and an offer to write whatever 
he would say. 

The result was a remonstrance, which in his own 
language was pathetic and touching in the extreme. On 
listening to it, I asked if in the translation it was not em- 
bellished ; and the reply was, that no translation could 
do justice to the original. I can make only a few 
extracts. 

'" First, as a people, without exception, we love the 
land of our birth, the place of our fathers' graves ; and 
could we be permitted to retain undisturbed possession 
of the gifts of God to our people, not one of us would 
entertain a thought of emigration. We are satisfied with 
our country, we neither ask nor seek a better one. 

" But we are told we can never live in peace here; that 
the land of the Indians' peace is far towards the setting 
sun. Let us lay open our hearts to your honorable body. 
We are troubled. AVhy should it be said that we can have 
no peace here? The age, wisdom, and dignity of a great 
nation are yours. You can resolve our doubts for us. 
The United States have land enough. You have abun^ 
dant means of communication. In all your wide country, 
your steamboats, rail cars, and carriages can bear your peo- 
ple whithersoever they wish to go. Neither have you any 
lack of wealth, that your people should wish to become 
rich at our expense. Neither have we given you any 
ground of complaint against us. 

" We have fought by the side of one of your greatest 
generals. He still lives to bear testimony to our fidelity. 
Yes, the blood of our chiefs was shed on the battle-field 
for what you then told us was our common country. It 
was mingled with the blood of your enemies slain by our 



254 THE IROQUOIS. 

hands, and that too at your solicitation, at a time when 
you said you stood in need of our aid. Why then can 
we have no peace in a land whose peace we helped to buy 
at such a price ? 

" It is true we are now few and weak ; you are numerous 
and mighty, but you are also magnanimous. The great 
hearts which beat in the bosoms of your chiefs and head 
men, would not let them oppress the remnant of any 
nation almost wasted from the earth, much less the rem- 
nant of friends who once fought and bled for them. 

" It is true, indeed, we are almost wasted away. The 
smallest of your ten thousand towns has in it more people 
than our whole nation. And can it then be any satisfaction 
to the United States to set their foot upon the neck of an 
old man, even now tottering into his grave ? We cannot 
understand these things. We wish, if we must all go 
into the grave, and perish from the earth, to lie together 
in the same dust with our forefathers. The strange, un- 
hallowed earth of other lands will press heavily upon our 
bosoms. It will be cold — we cannot sleep in such graves. 

" We cannot flourish there if our hearts are not there 
— if we go against our will — if we are driven forth heart- 
broken and dispirited. No : men will starve and perish in 
the most luxuriant soil on earth if compelled to take pos- 
session of it under such circumstances. We must go con- 
tentedly — we must go cheerfully, in order to be benefited 
by the kind offers of the government : and, above all, we 
must go unitedly. The bands which held us together 
have been torn. Now, the flames of strife burn high be- 
tween friends and brethren. If you push us off hastily 
together, we shall only go to devour each other till we 
are consumed. And even if we should not absolutely 
destroy each other, we could not flourish. The oak riven 
by the thunderbolt will not grow again. A kind, gentle 



BIG KETTLE. 

band might transplant sprout after sprout, and raise up 
perhaps a forest there. But after the lightning's shock, 
neither root nor branch retains the power of germinating. 
What harm can our remaining do you? What is the use 
of a few thousand acres of land to a nation like the United 
States ? But an honorable name — the love and friend- 
ship of those whom God has placed under your care, and, 
above all, the consciousness of doing right, will be of 
great importance. 

" Thus we have laid open our hearts to you. Our war- 
riors, and our women and child ren will take their own 
way to make known their concurrence. We hope you 
will attentively consider what we have said. We have 
trespassed long upon your patience, but with home and 
COUNTRY, — our fathers' graves, and the honor of the 
United States at stake, we could not have said less. May 
the Great Being who controls the counsels and destinies 
of nations guide you to a right decision." 

Big Kettle furnished another gratifying instance that 
an Indian could resist temptation, and maintain his in- 
terrritj through the darkest hours of adversity and the 
most aggravating wrongs. There are many among his 
own people and among white men. who knew him, who 
pronounce him a greater man than Bed Jacket. He 
lived to a later day, and felt more keenly, if this were pos- 
sible, the woes which seemed to fall thicker and faster 
upon the Indian as years wore on. His head was always 
clear, for not a drop of the fire-water ever touched his 
lips. There was a more softened dignity in his deport- 
ment and more affability in his manners than was expe- 
rienced in intercourse with Bed Jacket. He had finer 
sensibilities, and though there is a vein of sarcasm often 
in his speeches, it was not so bitter as that which ran 
through almost every thing Bed Jacket said. He re- 



256 THE IROQUOIS. 

mained a Pagan to the day of his death, though he seemed 
to lose some of his interest in Pagan ceremonies. He 
endeavored earnestly to elevate his people, and promote 
a true spirit of morality. A distinguished statesman and 
infidel who proposed establishing a school for propagating 
infidelity, once fell into company with Big Kettle, and at- 
tempted to convince him that there was no God, and to 
prejudice him against the missionaries, and excite him 
to bitter enmity against religion ; but the Indian's trust 
in the Great Spirit was not moved, and though he did not 
understand the Christian's God, his sagacious mind 
quickly discovered the fallacy of the atheist's arguments, 
and he was thoroughly disgusted with his coarse manners 
and conversation, and the want of principle which was 
manifest in his motives. 

He said he was led to abjure the fire-water by witness- 
ing the evil iDfluence of it upon his father, and the 
misery it introduced into their otherwise happy family. 

He literally died of a broken heart. There were 
some among the chiefs who were in favor of the treaty, 
and one day in the council house, strife arose to such a 
height, and discussion became so warm, that tomahawks 
were unsheathed, and there was danger of something more 
terrible than a war of words. I have seen the one which 
gleamed in Big Kettle's hand on that occasion, but it was 
allowed to do no harm, and it was this that grieved the 
patriotic old man more than any thing else, to see Iroquois 
at enmity with one another. It was not so in the days 
of old. Oh, how changed ! The Indians were once all 
brethren ; but now they were divided. To see them 
wasted was not so sad as to see them broken and degen- 
erate. He mourned and would not be comforted, and like 
Logan went away into the forest, and shut himself in a 
lonely cabin to die. 



SPEECH OF GAYASHUTA. 257 

The missionary learned his retreat and visited him, 
trying to speak comfort to his spirit, but in vain. He 
tried also to lead him to the Christian's God, and explain 
to him the Christian's faith. But this too was vain. He 
said the Great Spirit had not seen fit to give the Indian 
the good book which white people talked about, and he 
would not therefore punish him for not knowing what it 
contained. *' Big Kettle," said he, " has never done 
wrong to his fellow man. Big Kettle has never taken 
what belonged to another — has never told a lie. The 
Great Spirit knows Big Kettle loves him, and he will take 
him to the good place when he dies." So, firm in his 
trust in the Indian's God, he departed in the year 1830, 
without a single fear of death, or unwillingness to go, and 
to the Great Spirit we will leave him. " He alone is 
judge." 

Speech of Gayashuta, addressed to the Society of 

FFv-IENDS. 

" Brothers : — The sons of my beloved brother Onas.* 
When I was young and strong, our country was full of 
game which the Good Spirit sent for us to live upon ; the 
lands which belonged to us were extended far beyond 
where we hunted ; I and the people of my nation, had 
enough to eat, and always something to give our friends, 
when they entered our cabins, and we rejoiced when they 
received it from us ; hunting was then not tiresome — it 
was a diversion — it was a pleasure. 

'• Brothers : — When your fathers asked land of my na- 
tion, we gave it to them, for we had more than enough. 
Gayashuta was among the first of the people to say, ' give 

* OxAS i3 the Indian word for quill, and by this name they 
always spoke of William Penn. 



258 THE IROQUOIS. 

land to our brother Onas, for he wants it, and he has 
always been a friend to Onas and his children.' 

" BrothepwS : — Your fathers saw Gayashuta when he 
was young ; when he had not even thought of old age or 
weakness ; but you are too far off to see him now he has 
grown old. He is very old and feeble, and he wonders at 
his own shadow — it becomes so little. 

" He has no children to take care of him, and the game 
is driven away by the white people, so that the young 
men must hunt all day to find game for themselves to eat ; 
they have left nothing for Gayashuta. And it is not 
Gayashuta only, who is becoming old and feeble — there 
yet remains about thirty of your old friends, who, unable 
to provide for themselves, or to help one another, have 
become poor, and are hungry and naked. 

" Brothers ! — Gayashuta sends you a belt, which lie 
received long ago from your fathers, and a writing which 
he received but as yesterday from one of you. By these 
you will remember him, and the old friends of your fa- 
thers in this nation ; look on this belt and this writing, 
and, if you remember the old friends of your fathers^ 
consider their former friendship and their present dis- 
tress ; and, if the Good Spirit shall put it into your 
hearts to comfort them in their old age, do not disregard 
his counsel. We are men ; and therefore need only tell 
you that we are old, and feeble, and hungry, and naked ; 
and that we have no other friends but you, — the children 
of our beloved brother Onas." 

There have been attempts to prove that the Friends, 
as well as others, were guilty of injustice, fraud, and 
deception towards the Indians, but I can nowhere find 
these charges substantiated; and it is sufficiently con- 
vincing to any unprejudiced mind, that the universal im- 
pression among the red men would not be that the Friends 



SPEECH OF BLACK HAWK, 259 

were difiPerent from other white people, if they had not 
seeu it demonstrated. Whether at the North or the 
South, the East or the West, the impression of the Indian 
concerning the pale-faces is the same. The Pequod and 
the Cherokee, the Seminole and the Dacotah, experience 
the same treatment, and utter the same sentiment. 

The speech of Black Hawk, when, after a long and 
desperate conflict, he was taken and imprisoned, is the 
lamentation of all. 

'•' The Sun rose dim on us in the morning, and at 
night sank in a dark cloud, and looked like a ball of fire. 
That was the last sun that shone on Black Hawk. His 
heart is dead, and no longer beats quick in his bosom. 
He is now prisoner to the white man ; they will do with 
him as they wish. But he can stand torture, and is not 
afraid of death. He is no coward. Black Hawk is an 
Indian. He has done nothing for which an Indian ought 
to be ashamed. He has fought for his countrymen, the 
squaws, and pappooses, against white men, who came year 
after year to cheat them, and take away their lands. You 
know the cause of their making war. It is known to all 
white men. They ought to be ashamed of it. The white 
men despise the Indians, and drive them from their 
homes. But the Indians are not deceitful. The white 
men speak bad of the Indian, and look at him spitefully. 
But the Indians do not tell lies ; Indians do not steal. 

" An Indian who is as bad as a white man could not 
live in our nation ; he would be put to death, and eaten 
up by wolves. The white men are bad schoolmasters ; 
they carry false looks, and deal in false actions ; they 
smile in the face of the poor Indian, to cheat him ; they 
shake him by the hand, to gain his confidence, to make 
him drunk, and ruin his wife. We told them to let us 
alone, and keep away from us ; but they followed on, and 



260 THE IROQUOIS. 

beset our paths, and they coiled themselves among us like 
the snake. They poisoned us by their touch. We are 
not safe, we lived in danger. We were becoming like 
them — hypocrites and liars, adulterers, and lazy drones. 

" There were no deer in the forest ; the opossum and 
the beaver were fled ; the springs were drying up, and 
our squaws and pappooses without food. The Spirit of 
our Fathers awoke, and spoke to us to avenge our wrongs 
or die. We all spoke before the council fire. It was 
warm and pleasant ; we set up the warwhoop, and dug up 
the tomahawk ; our knives were ready, and the heart of 
Black Hawk swelled high in his bosom when he led his 
warriors to battle. He is satisfied. He will go to the 
world of spirits contented. 

" Black Hawk is a true Indian. He feels for his wife, 
his children, and friends. But he does not care for him- 
self. He cares for the nation and the Indians. They 
will suflFer. He laments their fate. The white men do 
not scalp the head; but they do worse, — they poison the 
heart ; it is not pure with them. His countrymen will 
not be scalped ; but they will in a few years become like 
white men, so that you cannot trust them ; and there 
must be, as in the white settlements, nearly as many 
officers as men, to take care of them, and keep them in 
order. 

" Farewell my nation ! Black Hawk tried to save 
you, and avenge your wrongs. He has been taken pris- 
oner, and can do no more. His sun is setting, and will 
rise no more. Farewell to Black Hawk ! " 

I have not any where made extracts from the bloody 
records of war, or related instances of Indian barbarity ; 
but if I had, they would have formed a pleasing picture 
for the mind to dwell upon, compared with the history of 
the controversy which was waged between a simple, trust- 



MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 261 

ful band of Indians, and the thieves and robbers who in- 
vaded them with weapons more deadly than tomahawks 
and scalping-knives — weapons which they could not see, 
and therefore could not repel. I have given but a glimpse 
of the long struggle ; but I will not dwell upon it longer, 
for, as far as the Iroquois are concerned, it is ended, we 
trust, though there is still an effort, and, perhaps, a hope, 
to weary out the Indians, and thus gain their possessions. 
But it is futile ; they will not part with them but with 
their blood. 

As far as most of them are concerned, those days of 
clouds and thick darkness have passed away, and with 
them should vanish the prejudice and mutual distrust to 
which they gave rise. 

Now, the Indians on all these lands are tillers of the 
soil, and you may ride miles in every direction, and see 
their fruitful fields and comfortable dwellings, indicating 
an industrious and an eminently peaceful and happy peo- 
ple. And if you come into this little church, you will 
see that they are also a Christian peoi3le. At first you 
might smile at the peculiarities in the dress of the women, 
for they persist, and very properly, I think, in not adopt- 
ing the dress which we call civilized, but which better de- 
serves the name of barbarous. No screws or lacings mar 
their forms, and their outer dress is still short and very 
loose. The elder women sit with uncovered heads, their 
long black hair tied in braids with gay ribbons down their 
necks. The younger women have quite universally adopt- 
ed the gypsy hat with gay streamers, and all wear shawls, 
generally very tasteful and handsome. This costume, with 
the rich brown tint of their soft skins, gives them a pic- 
turesque and pleasing appearance. 

They have large portions of the Bible, a hymn-book, 
and several school-books in their native tongue, and rich 



262 THE IROQUOIS. 

music it is when they all stand up and sing " with the 
spirit and the understanding," good old-fashioned tunes in 
their own rich and j^eculiarly expressive language. There 
are aged men and manly youths, matrons, maidens, and 
tiny babies; and all, not excepting the little ones, are 
very respectful and serious in their deportment. 

The sermon to-day is by one of their own people, a 
chief, and though it is Greek to me, as far as edification is 
concerned, I listen more attentively than I do sometimes 
to what I can understand, for there is something very fasci- 
nating in the language and in the speaker. He is not a 
minister, but occupies the pulpit to-day, because both the 
missionaries are absent to attend an annual meeting at a 
distant place ; but he is superintendent of the Sabbath- 
school, and though he comes six miles, has been absent 
but twice I believe in three years. Many who are present 
have been in the habit of walking eight or nine miles, 
men, women, and children, and are as sure to be present 
as the Sabbath bell is to ring. 

Here the Indian is the Indian still, and among the 
youths and maidens of the present generation, there are 
some noble specimens of this still noble race ; and the in- 
termingling of Saxon blood, wherever it has taken place, 
has caused no deterioration. 

As my book is written with the hope of disseminating 
the truth, and thus removing prejudice, I will give an in- 
stance of the prejudice which exists, and doubt not the 
same incident would have occurred in any city where the 
trial had been made. 

The first Sabbath I attended church, I noticed by my 
side a fine-looking woman, with the richest tint of clear 
Mingoe blood upon her cheeks, and her raven hair in soft 
flowing masses, curving upon her temples, and twined in 
classic braids behind. Tall and portly in figure, and 



RED jacket's step-daughter. 263 

dignified in deportment, she particularly attracted my 
attention, and the sweet and intelligent expression of her 
face told that she was no common woman. 

I asked who she was ; and learned that she was the 
step-daughter of their most distinguished chief. Red 
Jacket, and one of whom he was particularly fond. She 
was a child when he was an old man, and sat on his knee, 
and stroked his withered cheek and kissed his brow, and 
received his most affectionate caresses. Her mother was 
the second wife of the great orator, and the faithful friend 
of the missionaries, and a consistent member of the little 
mission church during all the latter years of her life. 
The daughter, therefore, has had a Christian education, 
and is a thoroughly sensible and very interesting woman. 
But while I listened to this answer and made these re- 
marks, I also listened to a story which made me blush for 
my people. 

A few years ago, when the American Board held their 
annual meeting in an eastern city, the wife of the mis- 
sionary, Mrs. AYright, was requested to bring one of the 
Indian women who could speak English, and was also 
familiar with her native language, that many more might 
be interested in their labors by witnessing the fruits. 
This was the woman she selected to accompany her. 
There was of course a great crowd of people, and hotels 
and boarding-houses were more than full. The one where 
they took up their abode, had the table surrounded with 
what are termed, in fashionable parlance^ genteel people^ 
and here the missionaries and the chieftain's daughter of 
a proud race took their place, as worthy to occupy the 
same position and receive the same politeness. What 
was their surprise, to see upon the cou^tenances of those 
who sat opposite them, indignation and conscious insult, 
that a lady of a different people, and with a darker hue, 



264 THE IROQUOIS. 

should be permitted to dine with them as an equal ! No 
notice was taken of their contemptuous looks and ges- 
tures, but what was the surprise of the offending party to 
find at the next meal that the table was vacated — they 
were left alone. The hostess then explained the cause of 
offence, and requested that the sqiiaiv might take her 
place at the second table, as they should lose their boarders 
if she did not. The missionaries answered, that if she sat 
at the second table they must also ; and to this proposition 
she, without blushing, acceded ; and during the remainder 
of the time, the vulgar gentility of the establishment 
were not troubled by the presence of two dignified, lady- 
like. Christian women, as far above their comprehension 
as the heavens are above the earth. They ate and drank 
without danger of contamination ! It is one of the pecu- 
liarities of the Indians never to betray emotion unseason- 
ably, and though it was evident that Mrs. L. understood 
the designed humiliation, she never by word or look made 
it manifest. It is also characteristic of them, that when 
introduced into society, where the customs are different 
from theirs and entirely new, they manifest no embarrass- 
ment or ignorance, but conform with wonderful tact ; and 
while seeming to be indifi'erent, really observe minutely, 
and afterward relate every thing that passes. 

How the disgraceful and utterly uncivilized conduct 
of these few who represent a large portion of what is 
called civilized society, was portrayed by this injured 
woman to her own people, I know not. I only know that 
she bore the insult with Christian meekness. She is the 
woman of whose girlhood I have spoken in the life of 
Red Jacket, and had he lived his fondest wishes concern- 
ing her would have been realized. She grew up to be a 
woman of whom he might well have been proud. Her hus- 
band is the grandson of a British officer, who loved an 



RED jacket's step-daughter. 265 

Indian maiden, and took lier to be his wife. When his 
erm of service expired he returned to England, but not 
without using every persuasion to induce his dusky bride 
to accompany him. She would not consent to go, fearing 
she might not be recognized as wife when so far away, and 
claimed the right, which was most reluctantly granted, of 
retaining their little son. For many years his father annu- 
ally remembered him, and sent gold and magnificent pre- 
sents to testify his love, but at length they ceased, and no- 
thing more was ever heard concerning him. As there were 
no surnames among the Indians, the child was not called 
by his father's name, and it soon became lost to all who 
ever knew him this side the water. If my Indian friends 
have any cousins among the lords or nobles of England, 
they might not care to have me supply the links which 
would bring them to the knowledge of each other ; but I 
can assure them that the blood of the daughter of an Iro- 
quois Chief has not degraded that of any Peer of the 
Kealm. 



12 



266 THE IROOUOIS. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE EDUCATED INDIAN. 

The following extracts are taken from speeches made by 
young educated Indians, who are still living and laboring 
among their people. The first was made before the His- 
torical Society of New York, in behalf of the little com- 
pany of Cayugas who emigrated beyond the Mississippi, 
and were reduced to such extreme suffering that a great 
proportion of them died in less than a year. It was pro- 
posed to bring back the remainder, and a speech to excite 
sympathy and raise funds was made by Dr. Wilson, who 
obtained ten thousand dollars for this purpose, five 
hundred of which was given by a member of the Society 
of Friends in Baltimore. 

'• The honorable gentleman has told j^ou that the Iro- 
quois have no monuments. Did he not previously prove 
that the land of Gano-no-o, or the Empire State as you 
love to call it, was once laced by our trails from Albany to 
Buffalo — trails that we had trod for centuries — trails worn 
so deep by the feet of the Iroquois that they became your 
own roads of travel as your possessions gradually eat into 
those of my people ? Your roads still traverse those same 
lines of communication and bind one part of the long house 
to another. The land of Gano-no-o — the Empire State — 
then is our monument ! and we wish its soil to rest above 
our bones when we shall be no more. We shall not long 



INDIAN ORATIONS. 267 

occupy much room in living; we shall occupy still less 
when we are gone ; a single tree of the thousands which 
sheltered our forefathers — one old elm under which the 
representatives of the tribes were wont to meet — will cover 
us all ; but we would have our bodies twined in death among 
its roots on the very soil where it grew ! Perhaps it will 
last the longer from being fertilized with their decay. 

" I have been told that the first object of this Society 
is to preserve the history of the State of New York. 
You, all of you know, that alike in its wars and in its 
treaties the Iroquois, long before the Revolution, formed 
a part of that history ; that they were then one in council 
with you, and were taught to believe themselves one 
in interest. In your last war with England, your red 
brothers — your elder brothers — still came up to help you, 
as of old, on the Canada frontier ! Have we, the first 
holders of this prosperous region, no longer a share in 
your history ? Glad were your forefathers to sit down 
upon the threshold of the ' Long House ; rich did they 
then hold themselves, in getting the mere sweepings from 
its doors. Had our forefathers spurned you from it when 
the French were thundering at the opposite end, to get a 
passage through and drive you into the sea, whatever has 
been the fate of other Indians, the Iroquois might still 
have been a nation ; and I — I — instead of pleading here 
for the privilege of lingering within your borders — I — I 
— might have had — a country ! " 

This was delivered extemporaneously, and was very 
long, but only these few sentences have been preserved, 
and for these we are indebted to Mr. Hoffman, who devoted 
to the author and his subject a long article in the Liter- 
ary World the next day. 

The following was delivered before an enlightened as- 
sembly by Mr. Maris B. Pierce, 



268 THE IROQUOIS. 

'' It has been said, and reiterated so frequently as to 
have obtained the familiarity of household words, that it 
is the doom of the Indian to disappear — to vanish like the 
mornino; dew before the advance of civilization — before 
those who belong by natureto a different, and by education 
and circumstances to a superior race ; and melancholy is it 
to us — those doomed ones — that the history of this coun- 
try, in respect to ?/5, and its civilization, has furnished so 
much ground for the saying, and for giving credence to it. 

'• But whence and why are we thus doomed ? Why 
must we be crushed by the arm of civilization, or the 
requiem of our race be chanted by the waves of the Pa- 
cific, which is destined to ingulf us ? Say ye, on whom 
the sunlight of civilization has constantly shone — into 
whose lap Fortune has poured her brimful horn, so that 
you are enjoying the highest and best sjnritual and tem- 
poral blessings of this world, say, if some being from fairy 
land, or some distant planet, should come to you in such 
a manner as to cause you to deem them children oi greater- 
light and superior ivisdom to yourselves, and you should 
open to them the hospitality of your dwellings and the 
fruits of your labor, and they should by dint of their 
superior tvisdom dazzle and amaze you, so as, for what to 
them were toys and rattles, they should gain freer admis- 
sion and fuller welcome, till, finally, they should claim the 
right to your possessions, and of hunting you, like wild 
beasts, from your long and hitherto undisputed domain, 
how ready would you be to be taught of them ? How 
cordially would you open your minds to the conviction 
that they meant not to deceive you further and still more 
fatally in their proffers of pretended kindness ? 

" How much of the kindliness of friendship for them, 
and of esteem for their manners and customs would you 
feell Would not 'the milk of human kindness' in your 



INDIAN ORATIONS. 269 

breasts be turned to the gall of hatrea towards them? 
And have not we, the original and undisputed possessors 
of this country, been treated wo}-se than t/oic would be, 
should any supposed case be transferred to reality. 

'• But I will leave the consideration of this point for the 
present, by saying, what I believe every person who hears 
me will assent to, that the manner in which the white peo- 
ple have habitually dealt with the Indians, makes them 
wonder that their hatred has not burned with tenfold fury 
against them, rather than that they have not laid aside 
their own peculiar notions and habits, and adopted those 
of their civilized neighbors. 

'• For instances of those natural endowments, which, by 
cultivation, give to the children of civilization their great 
names and far-reaching fame, call to mind Philip of Mount 
Hope, whose consummate talents and skill made him the 
white man's terror, by the display of those talents and 
that skill for the white man's destruction. 

" Call to mind Tecumseh, by an undeserved association 
with whose name one of the great men of your nation has 
obtained more of greatness than he ever merited, either 
for his deeds or his character. Call to mind Red Jacket^ 
formerly your neighbor, with some of you a friend and 
familiar, and to be a friend and familiar with whom none 
of you feel it a disgrace. 

" Call to mind Osceola, the victim of the white man's 
treachery and cruelty, whom neither his enemy's arm nor 
cunning could conquer on the battle field, and who at last 
was consumed in 'durance vile,' by the corroding of his 
own spirit. In ' durance vile,' I say. Blot the fact from 
the record of that damning baseness, of that violation of 
all law, of all humanitij, which that page of your nation's 
history which contains an account of it must ever be ! 
Blot out the fact, I say, before you rise up to call an In- 
dian trpacherous or cruel. 



270 THE IROQUOIS. 

'' For an instance of active pity, of deep rational active 
2^ity^ and the attendant intellectual qualities, I ask you 
to call to mind the story surpassing ro7na?ice of Pocahon- 
tas ; she who threw herself between a supposed inimical 
stranger and the deadly club which had been raised by 
the stern edict of her father, and by appealing to the af- 
fections of that father, savage though he was, overcame 
the fell intent which caused him to pronounce the white 
man's doom. In her bosom burned 'purely and rationally 
the flame of love, in accordance with the dictates of which 
she offered herself at the Hymenial altar, to take the nup- 
tial ties with a son of Christian England. The ofi'spring 
of this marriage have been -with px'ide claimed as sons 
and citizens of the noble and venerable State of Virginia. 

" Ye who love prayer, hover in your imagination around 
the cot of Brown, and listen to the strong supplications, 
as they arise from the fervent heart of Catharine, and then 
tell me whether 

* — the poor Indian, whose untutored mind 
Sees God in clouds and hears him in the wind,' 

is not capable, by cultivation, of rationally comprehend- 
ing the true God^ whose pavilion is the clouds, and jvho 
yet giveth grace to the humble. 

" The ill-starred Cherokees stand forth in colors of liv- 
ing light, redeeming the Indian character from the foul 
aspersions, that it is not susceptible of civilization and 
Christianization. John Ross stands before the American 
people, in a character both of intellect and heart, which 
many a white man in high places might envy^ and yet 
never be able to attain ! A scholar, a patriot, an honest 
and honorable man ; standing up before the ' powers that 
be,' in the eyes of Heaven and men, now demanding, now 
supplicating of those powers, a regard for the rights of hu- 



INDIAN ORATIONS. 271 

manity, of justice, of law — and still a scholar, a patriot, 
an honest and honorable man ; though an Indian blood 
coursing in his veins, and an Indian color giving hue to 
his complexion, dooms him, and his children and kin, to 
be hunted at the point of the bayonet by those powers, for 
their home, and possessions, and country, to the * terra 
incognita beyond the Mississippi.' 

'' ' Westward the star of Empire takes its way,' and 
whenever that empire is held by the white man, nothing 
is safe or enduring against his avidity for gain. Popula- 
tion is with rapid strides going beyond the Mississippi, 
and even casting its eye with longing gaze, for the woody 
peaks of the Rocky Mountains — nay, even for the surf- 
beaten shore of the western Ocean. And in process of 
time, will not our territory there be as subject to the 
wants of the white people, as that which we now occupy ? 

" I ask, then, in behalf of the New York Indians, that our 
white brethren will not urge us to do that which justice, 
humanity, religion, not only do not require, but condemn. 
Let us live on where our fathers lived, and enjoy the ad- 
vantages our location offers us, that we who are converted 
heathens, may be made meet for that inheritance which 
the Father hath promised to give the Son, our Saviour ; 
so that the deserts and waste places may be made to blos- 
som like the rose, and the inhabitants thereof utter forth 
the high praises of our God. 

" The government instituted by our ancestors many 
centuries ago, was remarkable for its wisdom, and adapted 
to the then condition of our nation. It was a republican, 
and purely democratic government, in which the will of 
the people ruled. No policy nor enterprise was carried 
out by the Council of the Grand Sachems of the Confed- 
eracy, without the sanction and ratification of the people, 
and it was necessary that it should receive the consent of 



272 THE IROQL'OIS. 

the confederate tribes. The consent of the warriors alone 
was not deemed sufficient, but the women, — the mothers 
of the nation were also consulted ; by this means the path 
of the wise Sachems was made clear — their hands were 
made strong, their determinations resolute, knowing full 
well that they had the unanimous support of their constit- 
uents ; hence the confederacy of the Iroquois became great 
and strong, prosperous and happy ; by their wisdom, they 
became statesmen, orators, and diplomatists; by their 
valor and skill in the war-path, they became formidable — 
they conquered and subdued many tribes, and extended 
their territory. 

'• This was our condition when the pale-faces landed 
upon the eastern shores of this great island. Every nation 
has its destiny. We now behold our once extensive do- 
mains reduced to a few acres ; our territory, which once 
required the fleetest moons to traverse, is now spanned by 
the human voice. Yes, the Chiefs under our ancient form 
of government have reduced our possessions, so that now 
when we put the seed of the melon into the earth, it 
sprouts, and its tender vine trails along the ground, until 
it trespasses upon the lands of the palefaces." 

When Colonel McKenney was writing his Indian his- 
tory, he addressed a letter of inquiry to General Cass, 
asking whether he ever knew an instance of Indian 
war or massacre, that was not provoked by the white 
man's aggression. To this letter he received the follow- 
ing laconic reply : 

Dear Coloxel : — 

Never! Never! NEVER! 

Yours truly, 

Leavis Cass. 



INJUSTICE TO THE INDIANS. 273 

G-eneral Houston, in speeches lately made at Wash- 
ington and at Boston, has made the same statement; and 
this, any one thoroughly acquainted with Indian history, 
will confirm. Had there been nothing more to rouse In- 
dian ferocity, it was enough to see his favorite hunting- 
grounds devastated, and the desecration of the graves of 
his fathers. We will not enter into the merits of the 
question, whether it would have been right to permit so 
wide an extent of country, capable of supporting millions, 
to remain in the possession of so few. It is an important 
question ; but when we judge the Indian, we are to look 
upon the invasion as it appeared to him. In his e^-es. the 
invaders were thieves and robbers, — yes, barbarians and 
savages. Their mode of warfare, atid their system of 
destroying, were more inhuman and terrible than any 
thing he had ever witnessed or imagined. 

To expect them to yield their territory without a 
struggle, and a desperate struggle, was an expectation 
which only an idiot could entertain ; and to expect them 
to lay aside their wild, roving habits, and easy, careless 
life, for one of toil and drudgery, with none of the ad- 
vantages of civilization and Christianity apparent to them, 
was quite as ridiculous. They were every where obliged 
to yield to the law of force, with only now and then a 
glimpse of the law of kindness. The good John Robin- 
son, of Plymouth memory, even in his day '' began to 
doubt whether there was not wanting that tenderness for 
the life of man, made after God's own image, which was 
so necessary; " and says, '• It would have been happy if 
the early Colonists had converted some, before they 
killed any." 

So early as 1623, it sometimes occurred that '' In- 
dians, calling in a friendly manner, were seized and put 
iu irons." •' The General Court of Massachusetts once 
12* 



274 THE IROQUOIS. 

offered one hundred pounds each for ten Indian scalps ; 
and forty white warriors went forth to win the prize, and 
returned with ten scalps stretched on poles, and received 
the one thousand pounds ! " 

The Indian had no other law than an " eye for an 
eye, and a tooth for a tooth ;" but there was, probably, 
not one among the early Colonists, who had not the Gos- 
pel of Christ, as well as the Ten Commandments. 

For myself, I have wondered that the fire of revenge 
and hatred should ever have gone out in a single Indian 
bosom ; that he should have been willing to receive the 
missionary and school-teacher from among a people who 
had so forfeited their title to Christian, and practised so 
contrary to their professions. But whoever will take the 
trouble to wander among the peaceful valleys of Cattarau- 
gus and Alleghany, will be convinced that the natural and 
artificial passions of Indians may be lulled, and the gall 
and wormwood which wrong and oppression have en- 
gendered in their hearts, may be converted into the 
sweetest milk of human kindness. They have learned to 
distinguish between the possessor and the professor ; they 
have learned to value the good gifts it is in our power 
to bestow, and are willing to sit at our feet and learn 
wisdom. 

It has become an annual custom among the Senecas to 
hold a national picnic, to which the people are all invited. 
The ceremonies are conducted as at similar festivals among 
other people, and I would like to have had the world, the 
unthinking, and still inexcusable ignorant world, look upon 
a scene which was represented not long since in the forest 
by North American Indians. 

Some strangers who happened along here a few months 
since, exclaimed, *' Why, how have you created such a 
paradise here, and nobody ever has heard of it ? " He 



INDIAN CIVILIZATION. 27 O 

looked abroad upon the cultivated fields and comfortable 
dwellings, and could not believe that the Indians had 
done all this. They are so entirely a distinct and pecu- 
liar people, that though living near a great city, and sur- 
rounded by an inquisitive and aggressive people, they are 
less known in the general community than the Chinese or 
the Laplanders. 

What has wrought this great change ? The quiet labors 
and the small still voice of the missionary and the school- 
teacher. As well as I could, I have pictured the Indian 
as he was, and now I wish you to look upon him as he is. 
Just stand with me upon this little hill, and look upon 
this gay concourse of people. At our feet is a beautiful 
grove of elms and oaks and maples, on the borders of a 
silver stream, so clear that it is a perfect mirror to the 
shining pebbles upon its bed. It bears still an Indian 
name, the Cattaraugus, and flows on to mingle its waters 
with Lake Erie. 

There is music in the distance. Look up and you will 
see a procession. It is heralded by the Seneca National 
Band, in a costume of red and white, and the tune is 
Yankee Doodle, though the musicians are all Indians. 
Then comes the Marshal, who would be singled out by an 
observer, on any occasion, as a genuine son of a proud 
race, by his fine figure and noble bearing. With his rich 
dress, on his caparisoned steed, he is truly princely. 

Then follow the children of the six several schools, 
their soft voices joining in a lively hymn, under the care 
of their teachers ; all with gala dresses and distinguishing 
badges, and flags waving in the breeze. Another band, 
" The Sons of Temperance," bring up the rear, and slowly 
they come marching on, crossing the stream upon a tem- 
porary bridge, wheeling about in several military evolu- 
tions, and arrange themselves in groups around the plat- 



276 THE IROQUOIS. 

forms wreathed with evergreens, on which the President 
of the day and the Speaker stand. He who presides is 
one of the the oldest and most venerable of the chiefs of 
his people. He is dressed in black, with a broad white 
silk scarf, terminating in crimson fringes, crossing his 
breast and falling gracefully at his side. Around him are 
other venerable men, whose memories easily go back to 
the time when there was not a Christian in the whole na- 
tion. Now the missionary pastor, who has for twenty 
years labored among them, and can very justly look 
around him and call what he beholds the fruit of his la- 
bors, lifts his voice to crave the blessing of Heaven upon 
their festal gathering. You will listen to the speaking 
which follows with interest, though you will not under- 
stand the language in which some of the addresses are 
made. It is not so musical as rich, and falls on the ear 
like the deep voice of the cataract, rather than the low 
murmuring rill. But those who think the Indian has no 
vein of humor and no love of pleasantry, should listen to 
him when he is surrounded only by his kindred — those 
who can appreciate him, and whom he can trust. Solem- 
nity, enthusiasm, and mirthfulness, play alternately upon 
the features of the assembly, but there is in him so great 
a regard for decorum, that nothing like levity or untimely 
restlessness ever disturbs an Indian audience. There is 
the most respectful attention till the orators are seated, 
and then they gather around the table, which is tastefully 
and bountifully spread, in the form of a double square. 
Around it circle the guests, and within stand those who 
dispense the good gifts prepared for all who come. Here, 
too, is the order which seldom characterizes so large a 
number among people of any other name ; and happiness, 
a quiet but soul appreciating happiness, is beaming upon 
every dusky face. 



INDIAN CIVILIZATION. 277 

When the feast is finished, the speakers again mount 
the rostrum, and as usual after a good dinner, all are more 
disposed to merriment. Before you are a thousand people 
of all ages, from the gray-haired man of ninety, to the ti- 
niest baby that ever opened its eyes to the light. You 
may see there a group of laughing maidens, reclining upon 
the grass in the shade of a spreading oak, with their gypsy 
hats and bright streamers, and near by a bevy of ma- 
trons, with their raven hair braided in rich tresses, and 
their mantles gathered in folds about their waists. The 
musicians fill up the interstices between the speeches with 
thrilling and plaintive strains, till the daylight begins to 
fade and the red gleam of the setting sun gilds the forest 
tops. Then again they form in procession, and march 
away. The children number about two hundred ; and are 
you realizing all this time that they are what some people 
still insist upon calling savages, and maintain can never 
become an educated, refined and cultivated people ? really 
believing that they are incapable of appreciating learning, 
the arts, Christianity, and civilization ? Contending 
that they ought to be removed far away into the Western 
forests to roam for ever wild, that the white man may not 
trample them as he tramples the beast and the reptile in 
his path ? The laborers have been few, far too few for 
this beautiful vineyard, yet they have accomplished a great 
work. The population is now on the increase, and schools 
and churches are multiplying. The people are improving 
in agriculture, and pretty farms and houses are beginning 
to dot their hills and valleys. They are becoming a 
Christian and social people. 

I have attended one or two parties, or social gather- 
ings, at the houses of the missionaries, where there were 
perhaps fifty or sixty, and have seen far less comeliness 
and propriety of behavior among the same number of the 



278 THE IROQUOIS. 

sons and daughters of New England. Indians have re- 
markable tact in conforming to the customs of other peo- 
ple, if they choose to exercise it, and when they are fully 
convinced that it is best to relinquish their own peculiar 
habits, they adopt new ones very readily. If land specu- 
lators would let them alone, and the State would perform 
its whole duty, they would soon prove that the last of the 
Senecas is not yet, nor for a long time to come. They 
would become a valuable element in our political and so- 
cial organization — refute the slanders, and blot out the 
dark pictures which historians have been wont to spread 
abroad concerning them. May I live to see it done, for 
most deeply have I learned to blush for my people. 

The speech from which I make the following extracts, 
was made by Mr. N. T. Strong. The President of the 
day was Henry Twoguns, the step son of Red Jacket, 
and the Vice President, Dr. Wilson. The Marshal was 
Mr. M. H. Parker, and the bands were composed entirely 
of Indians. 

His speech also, like the preceding ones, was made 
in English ; and all are in better English than many I 
have read by foreigners of other nations who have had 
the same advantages of education. 

" Ladies and Gentlemen : — I enter upon the duties 
assigned me by the committee of arrangements with much 
distrust. It is a difficult task at all times to speak in a 
foreign language, and I fear I shall not succeed to the 
satisfaction of myself or my audience. 

" In some respects the present occasion is an extraordi- 
nary one — never before did the white man with his women 
and children meet with the red man and his women and 
children in a social picnic. It is an occasion to excite 
our gratitude and make us glad, and I would like for a 



INDIAN ORATION. 279 

moment to present the past condition and relationships of 
the two nations in contrast with the present. 

" That the red men were the first occupants of the soil 
is conceded by all. In this we had the start of the white 
man, perhaps because John Bull and the Dutchman had 
not been Yankeefied at that time, for we find after this 
transformation took place the white man had the start of 
us in every thing ! 

"In 1647 the confederacy of the Six Nations were able 
to raise 30,000 warriors. They had a regularly organized 
government, in which the rights of nations were distinctly 
defined ; but the rights of individuals were not defined. 
AVar and the sports of the chase were then the pursuits 
of the red men. Their clothing was made of the skins of 
the animals they killed in the chase. Their food was the 
flesh of wild animals, and the corn and vegetables which 
were raised by the women, and the labor of the lodge was 
all performed by them. The conquests of the Iroquois had 
extended far to the south and west, and the name of the 
Ho-de-no-son-ne was a terror among all the surrounding 
nations. 

'•'- They roamed from river to river, and from valley to 
plain in pursuit of the buffalo, the bear, and the elk, and 
darted across lakes and rivers in their light canoes to find 
the beaver and otter, in order to take their furs. At ap- 
pointed seasons they returned to the council fires of the 
several nations, for the transaction of public business and 
to keep the annual feasts. 

" In 1776, more than a hundred years afterwards, we 
find them greatly reduced in numbers, though their cus- 
toms are the same. The Mohawks, who dwelt on the 
banks of the Hudson, and along the valley which still 
bears their name, scarcely numbered four hundred souls. 
The Oneidas, who were situated next west of them, num- 



280 ' THE IROQUOIS. 

bered fifteen hundred, and the Onondagas, Cayugas, Sene- 
cas, and Tuscaroras, about ten thousand, and could raise 
two thousand warriors. 

" Ladies and Gentlemen : — Let us now look at the 
white man in the same periods. In 1647 they had, capable 
of bearing arms, only 300 all told ! Their pursuits were 
agriculture and commerce. They had a system of govern- 
ment, and written laws. The rights of nations and the 
rights of individuals were well defined. Their religion 
was founded upon the Bible. They were cold and calcu- 
lating, and knew the value and uses of money. They also 
knew that land was better than money ! They therefore 
made every effort to obtain it. The white man bought it 
of his red brother, and ^jo^zV^ him little or nothing. He 
bought furs, too, at his own prices. 

" We find him again in 1774 numbering 181,000. Their 
improvement, in numbers, wealth, and the arts and 
sciences, has been going steadily onward. The forests fell 
before the woodsman — the game, and those in pursuit of 
it, also continued to retreat, till both had nearly disap- 
peared. Thus one of the occupations of the red man, 
like Othello's, ' was gone.' 

" The land of the red man became cultivated — ' the 
wilderness blossomed as the rose.' The white man built 
cities, towns, villages ; he built churches, established col- 
leges, academies, common schools, and other institutions 
of learning. 

" Yes, you made canals, railroads, and your electric 
telegraph transmits news almost with the speed of 
throught. This is wonderful ! The red man can yet 
scarcely comprehend it. Your commerce has extended 
over the world. Your ships are on every sea — your steamers 
on every river. In two hundred years your population 
has increased from six thousand to three millions. 



liN'DIAiN ORATION. 281 

" Allow me to ask, what price did the red man receive 
for this broad domain? The public documents testify 
thus : — * By these presents we do for ourselves and heirs 
and successors, ratify, confirm, grant, and submit, unto 
our most Sovereign Lord King George, by the Grace of 
God, King of Great Britain, &c., defender of the faith, 
&c., all the land lying between, &c. ; ' here follows an in- 
definite description of the premises, including lakes, rivers, 
&c., and never paying a cent for it ! 



" Ladies and Gentlemen : — You see from this that 
your forefathers wronged the red man and took advantage 
of his ignorance. This you will 7ioiv acknowledge. The 
red man has a long history of wrongs and griefs ; though 
unrecorded by the hand of man, they are written in the 
Great Book of Remembrance kept by the Great Spirit, 
and He will inquire into this at your hands by and by, 
and He will do justice to his red children. 

I have not instituted these comparisons to represent 
the red man as an inferior, and you as a superior being. 
No. These results are owing to circumstances in the rise 
and fall of nations. And you must also bear in mind that 
the Great God in heaven, whom you profess to worship 
and adore, governs and directs the afi'airs of nations as 
well as individuals. The powerful nations that Ml, and 
the weak that rise, do it alike at His bidding. 

'' But I appeal to you whether we are not entitled to 
your sympathy — whether we have not claims upon your 
assistance, in endeavoring to raise ourselves from the con- 
dition in which ignorance and prejudice have sunk our 
nation. 

" The red man is aware of his condition. Yes, he feels 
it deeply. When he looks at the sun, the light of which 



282 - THE IROQUOIS. 

enabled his ancestors to look abroad upon a magnificent 
country, all his own, now peopled by another race, he feels 
alone — an alien from the commonwealth. There are no 
monuments to commemorate the deeds of his forefathers, 
as there are in the old world ; but there are the mighty 
rivers and the eternal hills, which he has named. 

" Ladies and Gentlemen : — The Six Nations are now 
represented before you. The President of the day is a 
Seneca, and a worthy representative of his nation — the 
Vice-President on his right is a Cayuga of the first water, 
and on the left a worthy Onondaga. One of your poets 
has said that ' music has charms even to soothe a savage ! ' 
and here is a band of musicians who have delighted us 
with their sweet strains, composed entirely of the descend- 
ants of Senecas and Tuscaroras, and I doubt not they 
have gratified even civilized ears ! 

" Ladies and Gentlemen : — You perceive we are 
changed. We already have schools, and books, and 
churches, and are fast adopting the customs of white 
men. 

" For these improvements we are mainly indebted to 
the Missionaries of the American Board. Great is our 
debt of gratitude to these persevering and devoted men 
and women. And Oh, if you will but continue to extend 
to us the right hand of fellowship, we shall abundantly 
reward your efforts, and you will soon see among us a 
high state of cultivation and refinement. 

" The missionaries have not made a great noise concern- 
ing their labors by blowing of the trumpet, but quietly 
and peaceably ' have gone about doing good ; ' and may 
they live to see fulfilled their most cherished hopes, and 
answered their fervent prayers." 

Here I have permitted the Indian to speak for himself, 



CLOSING REMARKS'. 283 

and have given only a few of the proofs which I have of 
a similar kind, that neither education, nor civilization, nor 
Christianity enervates the mind or the body of the In- 
dian. 

If we had lived when our fathers lived, very probably 
we shouM have been like unto them ; we should have been 
guilty of the same errors of judgment, and the same mis- 
takes in practice. But now that we have no fear, and 
can look back upon the past as a whole, we are able to 
see clearly, where the actors could only grope in darkness. 
Yet with the experience of centuries to profit by, we are 
scarcely more ready to do justice. 

We are in undisputed possession of all these fair do- 
mains, and we know the paltry price we have paid for 
them. We know that there is in our midst a remnant of 
this proud people, whom it is our duty, and whom it is in 
our power to save ; and what have we done, and what are 
we doing to accomplish their salvation ? 




284 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE FUTURE OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN. 

Every historian and prophet who has preceded me, has 
reiterated the prediction that " the doom of the Indian is 
extinction!" I shall not contradict it ; but I fearlessly 
say, this ought not so to be. Is it not a libel upon Chris- 
tianity, that it is not fitted for all the people of the 
earth ? Is it not a libel upon Him, " who made of one 
blood all nations ; " who made the heavens and the earth : 
that He contemplated the happiness of only one portion, 
and instituted a system of religion fitted only for a few ? 
He does not tell us that Christ came into the world, 
to be crucified and slain for the Saxon and the Norman 
alone ! He died to redeem a world ; and He said, '• Go 
and preach the Gospel to all nations." If He created a 
people incapable of receiving the Gospel and profiting by 
it, how strange the command that it should be preached 
to them. We look upon the instances of degeneracy 
among Indian youth who have been educated, and ex- 
claim, " How fruitless are all our efforts ! " without taking 
into consideration the true causes of this degeneracy, or 
the inefficacy of any means yet employed for the accom- 
plishment of our ostensible object. Yet it is stated, that 
as far back as 1846, there were more Cherokees who could 
read the English or their own tongue, than could be 



INJUSTICE TO THE INDIANS. 285 

found among the white people, in proportion to the whole 
number, in any State of the Union ! 

In 1818, a plan was conceived for educating the In- 
dians of the whole country, by the Superintendent of 
Indian Aflfairs, which, though in operation but a few 
years, proved conclusively that the Indian was capable of 
any degree of cultivation. He obtained from Congress 
an appropriation of ten thousand dollars, annually, for his 
purpose ; and with the cordial approbation and co-opera- 
tion of various missionary and religious societies, estab- 
lished schools among the Indians all along upon our west- 
ern borders, from Lake Superior to Cliattahoochee, — in 
which were gathered eighteen hundred chUdren^ " deriv- 
ing instruction, and making as rapid advances in the 
various incipient branches of learning, in agriculture and 
the mechanic arts, as are made in any part of the United 
States by the children of white people." Then arose a 
new power ; the demons of avarice and selfishness ruled 
in the councils of our nation. These Indians, who had 
become a Christian people, with the religion of Christ for 
their religion — occupying lands, rich with the products 
of their industry — must be thrust forth, because they 
were a people of a darker hue than ourselves. So these 
flourishing schools were broken up ; these happy children 
were deprived of all their means of improvement, and 
thousands of innocent people were compelled to leave 
their homes and firesides, and wend their way to the wil- 
derness — leaving the pathway drenched with their tears,_ 
and stained with their blood. 

And even now, what has the Indian youth to awaken 
hope, and excite ambition? Not even yet, in the State 
of New York, is he granted the privileges of citizenship , 
though his claims, as native American, are prior to those 
of every Saxon on her soil. He is a land-owner, an agri- 



286 THE IROQUOIS. 

culturist, an educated, a Christian man — but still treated 
as if he were an idiot or a brute. 

The story of young James McDonald, in whom 
Colonel McKenney and Philip Thomas took so great an 
interest, illustrates the feelings of every red man, when 
he thinks of becoming like his white brethren. This young 
man was adopted into the family of Colonel McKenney, 
and being the age of his own son, enjoyed every privilege 
which he enjoyed. In the family and in the social circle 
they were equals, and were afforded the same advantages 
of education. The Indian youth was endowed with all 
the personal beauty of the noblest of his race, " with a 
manner the most gracious and winning," said his adopted 
parent, "and a morality I never saw invaded." Of his 
progress in study, when he had been only a little while at 
school, his teacher remarked, that •' he came with his les- 
sons better digested, and more Greek and Latin and 
mathematics in one of them, than Ihe class to which he 
was attached could get through in a week, — so he was 
obliged to place him in a class by himself." 

When he had finished his academical studies, his bene- 
factor chose for him the profession of the law. But he 
had begun to think of the difference between the treat- 
ment he was then receiving, and that which awaited him 
when he should go forth in the world, and he exclaimed, 
" Wherefore ! wherefore ! Of what use to me will be my 
present or future attainments? Oh, sir," pressing his 
hand against his forehead as he continued, " it will be all 
lost on me. / am an Indian^ and being an Indian, I am 
marked with a mark as deep and abiding as that which 
Cain bore. My race is degraded — trodden upon — de- 
spised." He then took from his bosom a letter from his 
brother, who was a lieutenant in the navy, and whose bit- 
ter experience had wrung from him the following words : 



STORY OF JAMES MACDONALD. 287 

" There is only one of two things to do : either throw 
away all that belongs to the white race and turn Indian, 
or quit being Indian and turn white man. The first you 
can do — the latter it is 7iot in your power to do. The 
white man hates the Indian, and will never permit him 
to come into close fellowship with him, or to be a partici- 
pator in any of his high prerogatives or distinguished 
advantages." 

When young James was asked if any thing in his expe- 
rience in the family in which he lived, would justly lead 
him to such a conclusion, he answered : " No, sir ; oh, 
no ; no indeed. But this is an exception, and only serves 
to prove the rule. You are to me a father. My grati- 
tude to you and your family can never die. I know I am 
treated with the greatest attention, even to tenderness.-' 
The tears came to his eyes ; he sat down and pressed his 
handkerchief to his face, until it was literally wet with 
weeping. 

After awhile he spoke, saying, '^ Yes, sir ; I will go to 
Ohio and read law with Mr. McLean. I will do any thing 
that it may be your pleasure for me to do. I should 
indeed be an ingrate to thwart your kind designs towards 
me in any thing. But the seal is upon my destiny ! " 

When the time was fixed for him to go, day after day 
he still lingered, so great was his reluctance to leave home, 
and father, and mother, and sisters and friends, to become, 
as he believed, an alien evermore. But he went, and in 
about half the time usually occupied in acquiring this 
profession, he was ready for the bar. 

He was a Choctaw, and when he had finished his 
studies he returned to his people, on a visit to his mother. 
Whilst there he was chosen one of a company of delegates 
to come to Washington on business, and Mr. Calhoun and 
others, who were engaged with him in transacting it, were 



288 THE moQuois. 

astonished at his powers and his acquisitions. But his 
adopted parent saw with the deepest anguish that he was 
endeavoring to blunt his keen sensibilities, and stifle the 
conflict in his bosom by the intoxicating draught. He 
could not endure that one so gifted and so beautiful should 
be thus destroyed, and sought many opportunities of re- 
monstrating with him. At one time he reminded him of 
the days he had spent under his roof — those days of in- 
nocence, and honor, and bliss. He sprang to his feet and 
exclaimed " Spare, me ! oh, spare me ! It is that thought 
which makes me so miserable. I have lost that sweet 
home and its endearments ; the veil which was so kindly 
placed between me and my Indian caste has since been 
torn away. I have been made to see since that I cannot, 
whilst such anomalous relations exist, as do exist between 
the red and the white race, be other than a degraded 
outcast?^ 

He was invited to go back to that loved spot, and 
assured that the same welcome awaited him there that he 
had always experienced ; but he said, '• Oh, name it not 
to me, sir ; I can never go there again ! The very 
thought of those haunts where I was once so happy, and 
of the kindness shown me there, being met, as they are, 
and crushed by the consciousness of what I now am, dis- 
tracts me." 

But he recovered, in some measure, his former self- 
reliance and cheerfulness, and returned to open a law 
office in Jackson, Mississippi, where his prospects were 
very flattering. Then came disappointed love, to ring 
again in his ears the doom of the red man, " You are an 
Indian — you belong to a degraded race." Hope fled and 
despair took possession of him ; he mounted a high bluff, 
overhanging the river, and precipitated himself into the 
water to rise no more. " Wherefore ! wherefore ! " He 



STIGMA ATTACHED TO THE INDIANS. 289 

might toil and earn money — riches might be within the 
reach, even of an Indian ; but gold cannot satisfy a noble 
heart. He must not dream of honors, he must not dream 
of domestic happiness ; and Vvhat is gold, aye, what is life, 
when all this is denied ? 

Let it suddenly be revealed to all the youth in our 
colleges, as an unalterable destiny, that they are evermore 
debarred from distinction, and the hope of one day forming 
for themselves a home, and being surrounded by a circle 
of loved ones, and what would there be to allure them up 
the hill of science ? Would not every energy be paralyzed, 
and should we not with certainty expect to see them go 
down to perdition ? The love of knowledge merely, is a 
little better than the love of money ; but both are very 
ignoble motives to inspire immortal minds, and support 
them on the pilgrimage through this world. The desire 
of the approbation of heaven and of being useful on earth 
may be good, and perhaps should be sufficient motives ; 
but how many among the most cultivated and Christian 
would falter, with only these to sustain them ? 

With a majority of people the idea is entertained that 
the nature of the Indian is so entirely different from the 
nature of the Saxon. This is true only in one sense — 
that education, and centuries of indulgence in peculiar 
habits, tend to make them secoml nature. The Indian is 
not alone in loving a wild roving life, free from care and 
toil. 

So late as 1826, restoration to home and kindred was 
offered to several women who had been made captive and 
carried beyond Lake Superior, and they rejected the boon. 
They had become entirely released from the trammels of 
society, and cared not to be encumbered with them again. 

Chateaubriand relates, that when travelling through 
the wilds of America, he heard that he liad a countryman 



290 THE IROQUOIS. 

who had become a resident of the forest. He visited him, 
not so much with a desire to see his countryman, as of 
philosophizing upon his condition. After several hours' 
conversation, he put his last grand question : 

" ' Phillip, are you happy ? ' 

'' He knew not, at first, how to reply. ' Happy ?' said 
he, reflecting — ' happy ? — yes ; — but happy only since I 
became a savage.' 

" ' And how do you pass your life ? ' asked I. He 
laughed. 

" ' I understand you,' continued I. ' You think such 
a question unworthy of an answer ; but should you not like 
to resume your former mode of living, and return to your 
country ? ' 

" ' My country — France ? If I were not so old I should 
like to see it again.' 

" ' And you would not remain there ? ' The motion of 
Phillip's head answered my question sufficiently. ' But 
what induced you,' continued I, ' to become what you 
call a savage ? ' 

" ' I don't know,' said he — ' instinct.' 

" This expression put an end to my doubts and ques- 
tions. I remained ten days with Phillip, in order to ob- 
serve him, and never saw him swerve for a single moment 
from the assertion he had made. His soul^free from the 
conflict of the social 'passions^ appeared, in the language 
of the Indian, calm as the field of battle, after the war- 
riors had smoked together their calumet of peace." 

How many a trapper has become wed to a forest life. 
I never yet heard of one who voluntarily returned to the 
plough and the anvil. Why, then, should we expect an 
Indian to seek them ? The same necessity must be laid 
upon him as upon us, ere he will toil, and he must be in- 



INCONSISTENCY. 291 

spired with the same motives, ere he will prefer knowledge 
to ignorance. 

If there had been no wars in our country, except be- 
tween the colonists and the Indians, Christianity might 
have been taught by example as well as precept. But 
three times since the settlement of America, the red man 
has been obliged to witness, and take part in bloody con- 
flicts, between the very nations who professed to come to 
him with the religion which condemned war ; and these 
nations were fighting about the very lands which they 
were constantly telling the Indian it was wrong for him to 
defend at the expense of life, though they were his birth- 
right, and dear to him, as the inheritance of his fathers. 
Their invaders fought to defend what was not their own ; 
why should not he defend what was his all ? 

It is strange that there have been so many, rather 
than that there have been so few, who were willing to re- 
ceive Christianity, and the arts of civilization, from their 
oppressors. The proud lord of the forest never consented 
to become subject or slave. When he yielded, it was to 
stern necessity ; and when we remember what he had to 
give up, and that when we had taken from him his posses- 
sions, and all he held most dear, giving him nothing in re- 
turn, but the privilege of living as best he could, never 
calling him, or treating him as brother, or freeman ; we 
cannot fail to see that he has done exactly as we should 
have done in the same circumstances. 

As it was, the labors of Eliot and Mayhew, of Kirk- 
land and Brainard, and many more in modern times, have 
not been without their reward. Mayhew wrote the lives 
of between one and two hundred " Christian men and 
women, and godly ministers," and there is exhibited no 
difference between Indian Christians, and Christians of 
other nations. 



292 THE IROQUOIS. 

What a beautiful illustration of Christian principle 
was the famous Oneida Chief, Shenandoah. For sixty 
years he had been the terror of all who heard his name, 
when he listened to the gospel message from Mr. Kirkland, 
and immediately became a little child, in meekness and 
every Christian grace. He lived more than a hundred 
years ; and when, a little while before he died, a friend 
called and asked concerning his health, he said, " I am an 
aged hemlock; the winds of a hundred winters have 
whistled through my branches. I am dead at the top, 
(referring to his blindness). AVhy I yet live, the Great 
Good Spirit only knows. When I am dead, bury me by 
the side of my good minister and friend, that I may go 
up with him at the great resurrection." 

Kusick was a Tuscarora Chief, and where shall we 
look for a nobler instance of friendship than his towards 
Lafayette, or for Christian principle more firm and true 
than he evinced concerning his pension. 

In the war of the Revolution he was under Lafayette's 
command. Many years after peace was concluded, as he 
was passing through Washington, he accidentally heard 
the name of his old commander spoken in the office where 
he stopped for business. The moment his ear caught the 
sound, with eyes lighted and full of earnestness, he asked : 

^^ Is he yet alive ? " 

" Yes," was the reply, " he is alive, and looking well 
and hearty." 

With deep emphasis he said, " I am glad to hear it." 

" Then you knew Lafayette, Kusick ? " 

" Oh yes," he answered, " I knew him well; and many 
a time in the battles, I threw myself between him and the 
bullets, /or I loved hijnV 

On being asked if he had a commission, he said '• Yes, 
General Washington gave him one, and he was lieutenant." 



KusicK. 293 

This suggested to his friends that he was entitled to a 
pension, and on looking over the records, the truth of what 
he said was confirmed, and he received one for several 
years. 

Afterwards, Congress passed a law making it necessary 
that each recipient should swear that he could not live 
without the pension. When the old chief was called upon 
to do this, he said, " Now here is my little log cabiu, and 
it's my own ; here's my patch where I can raise corn, 
and beans, and pumpkins ; and there is Lake Oneida, 
where I can catch fish ; with these I can make out to live 
without the pension, and to say I could not, would be to 
lie to the Great Spirit^ This was the honor of an Indian 
Chief; how many among those of our own people who re- 
ceive pensions would have done likewise for conscience' 
sake ? Kusick could speak the English language very 
well, but when he made an audible prayer or said grace 
at table, he used his native Tuscorara, " because," said he, 
" when I speak English I am often at a loss for a word ; 
when therefore I speak to the Great Spirit, I do not like 
to be perplexed, or have my mind distracted to look after 
a word. When I use my own language, it is like my 
breath ; I am composed." In this is exemplified that he 
fully understood the reverence which was due to the Great 
Ruler. 

Instances might be multiplied a hundred fold, to prove 
that the religion of Christ can soften and renew the heart 
of the fiercest warrior of the wilderness, as well as the 
heart of the child of civilization. The records of missions 
numbers forty thousand Indian converts ; and, if only 
half these have become genuine followers of the cross of 
Christ, the patient and faithful missionary has not labored 
in vain. 

There is a little remnant still left among us ; and if 



294 THE IROQUOIS. 

these are permitted to perish, it Avill not be the fault of 
our fathers, and the dark age in which they lived. We 
know their wants and their capacities, and have abundant 
means for all the good we please to accomplish. 

Of the Iroipois there are three thousand ; of Indians 
within our jurisdiction, three hundred thousand. They 
should be citizens of our republic ; their oaths should be 
respected in our courts of justice ; and their representa- 
tives should be in our national councils ; then we should 
see hope dawn in their bosoms, and ambition revive their 
energies. 

One who had the means of making the estimate, and 
no motive for stating it incorrectly, says we have become 
possessed of all these fair domains at the paltry price of 
two cents inid tJucc quaytvrs an acre: By robbery we 
have grown rich. 

It was suggested in Congress, not long since, that •' a 
person be employed to collect and arrange the treaties, 
and other authentic documents, tending to illustrate the 
history of the relinquishment of land titles by native 
Indian tribes, and to prepare such means of illustration 
as may be necessary for a full knowledge of the acquire- 
ment of the States of the title to their lands." To which 
it was answered : '' Let us do no such thing. Let us 
rather gather up and destro}^ — commit to the flames all 
that records the progress of our acquisitions. Leave only 
to tradition, or forget entirely, the infamy which we ac- 
quired with the titles we enjoy — for who can look un- 
moved upou the parchment that tells how many miles 
square were bought with a few strings of paltry beads — 
how the council fires that had burned for ages were put 
out, and the bands that gathered round them for ages 
were scattered — their birthrights, their wigwams, and 
their hunting grounds bartered away for a score of worth- 



SABBATH MORNING AMONG '[lii: CJIIPPEWAS. 295 

lees rifles, or a bundle of useless trinkets, — how we first 
debased, and then defrauded, the children of the forest 
out of all their hills and vallejs, their lakes and rivers, 
over which are scattered the millions whose representa 
tives arc asked to perpetuate the records of wrongs in- 
flicted by their ancestors. Doubtless there was necessity 
for the wrong — for the extermination of one race, for the 
increase of another. But there exists no necessity that 
we should make a parade of the means by which that ex- 
termination was efiected. 77i.e7/ may be forgiven ; we 
may, at least, forgot them/' * 

It is too late to blot out these dark records ; but it is 
not yet too late to prove that we 

"Are wiser than oui- ' J^'athcrH' werf-, 
And bettor know the Lord." 

It is confidently predicted that we arc on the verge of 
another Indian war, more terrible than our country ever 
experienced ; and yet with our rich, powerful, and con- 
Bolidated government, it is perfectly possible to prevent 
this war. The Indian of the AVest is the same as the 
Indian of the Ea.st ; and it is a thousand times better to 
soften his heart by kindness than to pierce it by a bullet. 

A traveller describes the following Sabbath morning 
scene, far beyond the confines of civilization, among the 
Chippewas, Menomonies, and Winnebagoe.'?, where only 
the trader and the missionary had been. 

" The dawn of this .Sabbath morning was peculiarly 
beautiful : ' rosy fingers ' did seem ' to unbar the gates of 
light.' Violet and purple with a wide and widening circle 
of ' orient pearl,' all met my eye with their charming and 
cha^: toning influences — and then there was such silence ! 



o 



Laily Tirnen^ Febiuary l2tb, 1855. 



296 THE IROQUOIS. 

Not a leaf rustled, and the waves broke in softer murmur 
on the shore. Yet, all this silence was broken in upon 
this morning — for, just between the time when the east- 
ern sky was made mellow with the sun's light, and the 
light began to tip the tops of tree and mountain, and all 
was so quiet, my ears were greeted by sweet sounds of 
music ! They came from a lodge of Christian Indians, 
which was hard by in the woods. They had risen with 
the day ' to worship God ! ' They sang in three parts, 
base, tenor, and treble, and with a time so true, and with 
voices so sweet, as to add harmony even to nature itself. 
Notes of thrush and nightingale sound sweeter when 
poured forth amidst the grove ; so sounded those of these 
forest warblers in the midst of the green foliage and in the 
stillness of the woods. I attended their worship, and was 
present with them again in the evening ; and as I listened 
to their songs of praise, and their prayers, I felt humbled 
and ashamed of my country, in view of the wrongs it had 
inflicted, and still continues to injlict, upon these desolate 
and destitute children of the forest. There were flowers 
and gems there, which needed only to be cultivated and 
polished, to insure from the one the emission of as sweet 
odors as ever regaled the circles of the civilized ; and 
from the other, a brilliance as dazzling as ever sparkled in 
the diadem of queenly beauty. And yet they were, and 
are, neglected, trodden down, and treated as outcasts ! " 

But no missionary society has the means of accom- 
plishing the work of carrying the gospel and education, to 
such a multitude of roving people, over such a wide ex- 
tent of country. This is the duty of the government, and 
if wisely planned, would not be so difficult of execution. 
It would not cost so much as a war, and would save us from 
the retribution which must certainly come upon those who 
make cruelty and treachery the purchase money with 



DOOM OF THE INDIAN. - 297 

which to gain territory, and enrich it with the blood of 
the innocent and helpless. 

Extinction may be the doom of the Indian, but it does 
not require a prophet's authority to enable us to say, 
" Woe unto those by whom this offence cometh." 



13* 



APPENDIX. 

THE LANGUAGE OF THE IROQUOIS. 

If the Indian should be entirely banished from our borders, 
the memory of him cannot die. For, as I have elsewhere 
quoted, 

" Their names are on our waters, 
"We cannot wash them out." 

The dialects of the Six Nations bore a strong resemblance 
to each other, though there were still differences which marked 
them as distinct. Those who understood one were able to 
converse in each of the others, and in council the representa- 
tives of each nation had no difficulty in interpreting what 
was said by aU. The Mohawk and Oneida strongly resembled 
each other, and the Seneca and Cayuga were the same. The 
Onondaga "was considered by the Iroquois as the most fin- 
ished and majestic," while to our ears it is the most harsh, and 
the Oneida the most musical. 

TJiey used nineteen letters, having no labials or liquids, ex- 
cept occasionally is heard among the Mohawks the sound of 
L and among the Tuscaroras the sound of F. The Senecas 
and Cayugastalk all day without shutting their lips, and there 
are no oaths in their language. Before an Indian can be pro- 
fane he must learn French or English, and his language is so 
constructed too, that evasion is almost impossible. Metaphors 
are in constant requisition in Indian speeches and conversation. 
If one comes in when the weather is very cold, he says, " It is 



APPENDIX. 299 

a nose-cutting morning." If he wishes to reflect upon a pro- 
position before deciding, he says, '-I will put the matter 
under ray pillow, and let you know." He says of an emaciated 
person, " He has dry bones." A steamboat is called " The ship 
impelled by fire." A horse is a " log carrier^'''' a cow a " cud 
cheioer^^^ and a goat a "scented animal." 

In ancient times when the hunters encamped in the woods, 
they kept warm by covering themselves with boughs of 
hemlock, and now if an Indian is about to repair his cabin, 
he says, " I will surround it with hemlock boughs," meaning 
I will make it warm and comfortable. When a chief has made 
a speech at theoponiug of a Council, he finishes with saying, 
" the doors are now open, you can proceed." The messen- 
ger of the Six !N"ations to the Senecas was called " the man 
who carries the fire or smoke," meaning that he had charge of 
the Council-fire and kept it bright. 

The Iroquois call themselves the recil ijeoi^le ; and in 
speeches or conversation, if allusion is made to Avhite people, 
they say invariably " our younger brethren." The President 
of the United States is called " the city-eater," and Washing- 
ton, " the residence of the city-eater." 

The Iroquois had the masculine, and feminine, and neuter 
genders. The masculine and feminine were denoted, some- 
times by giving the same animal diflerent names, in the way 
we say buck and doe, and sometimes by prefixing words 
which signify male and female. All inanimate objects were 
placed in the neuter gender. They had not the indefinite 
article a or «?i, but used the^ and the usual varieties of ad- 
jective and adverb. They abounded in interjections, but had 
no participles. As a substitute for the infinitive mood they 
used the word that. Instead of saying, "Direct He-mo to 
come and give us rain," they said, "Direct that He-mo come 
and give us rain." 

They could count by one, two, three, nearly to a hundred, 
and used the numerals, firstly, secondly, thirdly, &c. 

The following are specimens of names, with the Lord's 
prayer and a hymn in Seneca. 



300 APPENDIX. 

0-hee-yu, The 'beautiful river. 

Os-we-go, Floicing out. 

On-yit-hah, Bird of the strong wing. 

Ga-no-so-te A house. 

0-on-do-te A tree. 

0-ya Fruit. 

Je-da-do A bird. 

0-ya-han Apples sp>lit open. 

Ga-no-geh Oil on the water. 

Ga-ose-ha Baby frame. 

THE lord's PEATEE. 

Gwii-nee^ ga-o-yu^-geh che-de-oh' ; sa-sa-no-do''-geh-teek ; 
ga-o' ne-dwa na^ sa-nunk-ta ; na-lmk^ ne-ya-weh'' na yo-an''- 
ja-geh ha^-ne-sa-ne-go''-da ha ne-de-o''-da na' ga-o-yii''-geh. 
Dun-da-gwa-e''-wa-sa-gwus na' ong-wi-wa-na-ark-seli'' na' da- 
ya-ke'-wa-sa-gwa''-seh na' onk-ke-wa-na''-a-ge. Dii-ge-o'-na- 
geh'-wen-nis'-heli-da na'' ong-wii-qua^ Sa-niik'' na-hiih^ heh^- 
squii-a ha^ ga-yeli na' wii-ate-keh' na-gwa'' na'' da-gwii-ya- 
duh''-nuh-onk ha^ gii-yeli na'' wii-ate-keV; na'' seh-eli' na 
ese'' sa-wa na' o-nuk-ta'' kuh'' na'' ga-hns-ta-seh' knk'' na'' 
da-gii-a-sa-uli^ Na-huh^-ne-yil-weh.* 

* If an attempt should be made to give a Hteral translation of 
each word, or phrase, it would render transposition necessarj", and 
change the formation of the words in some respects, as the follow- 
ing will exhibit. 

Gwa-nee', che-de-oh' ga-o'-ya-geh, ga-sa-nuh', ese' sa-nuk-ta' 
Our Father, which art in heav'en, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom 
ga-oh' ese' sne-go-eh ne-ya-weh' yo an-ja'-geh ha' ne-de-o'-deh 
come, thy will be done on earth as it is 

ga-o'-ya-geh. Dun-da-gwa-e'-wa-sa-gwus ong-wa-yeh'-hi«-heh' 
in heaven. Forgive us our debts 

da-ya-ke'-a-wa-sa-gwus-seh' ho-yeh'his. Da-ge-oh' ne' na-geh' 
as we forgive our debtors. Give us this 

wen-nis'-heh-deh e' na-ha-da-wen-nis'-heh-geh o-a'-qwa. Ha-squa'-ah 

day our daily bread. Lead 

e' sa-no' ha' wii-ate-keh', na-gwa' da-gwa-ya-dan'-nake ne' 
us not ,, into temptation, but deliver from ua 

wa-ate-keh', na-seh'-eh nees' o-nuk'-ta na-kuh' na ga-hus'tes-heh, 

evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, 

na-kuh' da-ga-it-sa-oh'. 
and the glory. 

Na-huh'-se-yii-weh. 



APPENDIX. SOi 

{Specimen qf Indian Hymn.') 
GAA NAU 8. L. M. 

O gwe nj'oo'' gali'', a ga deah'seek 
Hell syali daa deb, lis' ne Je sus ; 
Tah'fih ; tah all deli o gwe nyooli^, 
Nell huh'' noo''wak ni gooliMa aak. 

lis, sah ah, ji sa'yah daa gwah', 
Na gat hwa is hah ; aa^ga noh, 
Gih shfili'', deh sa^'jah da geh hah, 
A yo das'^theh oh, naeh, ne neh. 

Deh oiVa yas doh na'ga deah, 
lis ne gall sa dya nohk''dali oh 
Heyoanjadeh, kuh, hegohheh; 
lis, kuh, des gah'nya doll dyotgont. 

Del oi wah'geh na ga deah seek ; 
Tah ah, waeh, Nais, hehsadeahoh, 
Oi wa netVgwat ni ya^'wah oh, 
Sgie^'yah seeh heh, de ga yah sont. 

Da gyah'da geh'ha aak', diV sho, 
Ne' dyot gont neh a ges'' nyet haak^, 
He ni sah'sanno'na a gwat, 
Kuh' he ni sa da ni daa oh. 

The number of Senecas at the last census was 2,449. 

The three Reservations which now remain to the Indian in 
Western New York, are called Tonawanda, Cattaraugus, Al- 
leghany, containing in all about sixty-six thousand acres. 
No white family is allowed to settle upon these lands, and the 
law forbids the trusting of an Indian or the selling him intox- 
icating di-inks. 

There are at present 14 Schools, 16 Teachers, 480 Scholars, 
one Boarding School with 50 scholars, 8 Missionaries, 47 
Church members. 



302 APPENDIX. 



NO. II. 



During the winter of 1855 a bill was passed by the Legisla- 
ture of New York, incorporating an Orphan Asylum, and 
appropriating two thousand dollars ($2000) for a building, and 
ten dollars a year for each child received and retained under 
the care of the managers. This is one of the most important 
benefits conferred upon the Indians. By it a home will be 
provided for the destitute little ones of this scattered people. 
And by beginning early, an opportunity will be afforded of 
securing to them a proper course of moral and physical train- 
ing, and more surely than by any other Avay preserve them 
from destruction. 

The experiment was first tried by taking a few into the 
family of a benevolent lady residing on the Keservation, which, 
proving successful, an earnest appeal for aid was made to the 
State. 

The institution is incorporated under the name of the 
" Thomas Asylum for orphan and destitute Indian Childi'en," 
as a tribute of acknowledgment to the individual whose name 
it bears, for his long and earnest efforts to assist and benefit 
the Seneca nation. 

It is located upon the Cattaraugus Eeservation, but is in- 
tended to receive children from all the Reservations in the 
State of New York. As the appropriation of ten dollars a 
year for the support and education of each child, is quite in- 
sufficient for the purpose, it is hoped that if the attempt to 
preserve from destruction this noble race should promise suc- 
cess, that the State of New York — the only State on the At- 
lantic borders of this Confederation, in which an organized 
body of the once numerous aborigines of our country has 
been permitted to remain — will hereafter further extend to- 
wards this institution its fostering care and aid. 



APPENDIX. 303 



NO. III. 



The following documents, from the Indian State Depaet- 
MENT, will show the advance which has been made in the 
science of government, and the art of diplomacy : 

The nation has recently undergone quite a revolution, and 
the people have substituted a popular Representative Govern- 
ment, for the government of the Chiefs, which has heretofore 
existed. At a Convention, held at Cattaraugus on the 4th of 
December, 1848, the delegates, in a very formal manner, abro- 
gated the old government, and proclaimed the new order of 
things, very much after the manner of the founders of our 
government. Their Declaration is not quite as long as the 
Mecklenburgh meeting, while its style is not unlike Mr. Jef- 
ferson's. The Constitution, defining the duties and powers of 
the officers of government, is quite detailed. The Supreme 
Judiciary is composed of three judges, who are designated 
Peace-Makers. The legislative powers of the nation are 
vested in a Council of eighteen, chosen by the universal suf- 
frages of the nation ; but no treaty is to be binding, until it 
is ratified by three fourths of all the voters, and three fourths 
of all the mothers in tJie nation ! This may be considered an. 
advance, even beyond the legislative theory of the French 
Assembly. One provision of this Constitution exhibits a de- 
gree of national frugality, well worthy of imitation by those 
gentlemen in our own Congress, who spend so much of the 
" dear people's " money in talking about their rights and in- 
terests. The Seneca Constitution declares that the compensa- 
tion of members of the Council, shall be one dollar each per 
day, while in session; " lut no memher shall receive more than 
twenty-six dollars during any one year.''^ With such a pro- 
vision, they will need no one-hour rule, and there will be no 
danger of their Council becoming " en permanence?'' 

Among the acts of the Convention, was the re-naming an 
estimable citizen of Baltimore— Philip E. Thomas ; a gentle- 



304 APPENDIX. 

man whom the Senecas recognize as an old and true friend. 
In acknowledgment of the many kindnesses which they had 
received at his hands, they had on a former occasion made 
Mr. Thomas a Chief, giving him the name of Sagaoh (Benev- 
olent). But now it became necessary to give him a new title, 
and he was accordingly named Eai-ioa-no\ which signifies 
the Ambassador. The minutes of the Convention state that 
this ceremony was performed amidst " great sensation^ and 
applause of approbation ! " 

DeclaPvAtion of the Sexeca Nation of Indians — Changing 

their form of Government^ and adopting a Constitutional 

Charter : 

"We, the people of the Seneca ]!*J"ation of Indians, by virtue 
of the right inherent in every people, trusting in the justice 
and necessity of our undertaking, and humbly invoking the 
blessing of the God of Nations upon our efforts to improve 
our civil condition, and to secure to our nation the administra- 
tion of equitable, wholesome laws, do hereby abolish, abro- 
gate and annul our form of government by Chiefs, because it 
has failed to answer the purposes for which all governments 
should be created. 

It affords no security in the enjoyment of property. 

It provides no laws regulating the institution of marriage, 
but tolerates polygamy. 

It makes no provision for the poor, but leaves the destitute 
to perish. 

It leaves the people dependent on foreign aid for the means 
of education. 

It has no judiciary, nor executive departments. 

It is an irresponsible, self-created aristocracy. 

Its powers are absolute and unlimited in assigning away 
the people's rights ; but indefinite and not exercised in making 
municipal regulations for their benefit or protection. 

We cannot enumerate the evUs growing out of a system so 
defective, nor calculate its overpowering weight on the pro- 
gress of improvement. 

But to remedy these defects, we proclaim and establish the 



APPENDIX. 305 

following Constitution, or Charter, and implore the Govern- 
ment of the United States, and the State of New York, to aid 
in providing us with laws, under which progress shall be 
possible. 

Sec. 1. Our Government shall have a Legislative, Execu- 
tive, and Judiciar}^ Departments. 

Sec. 2. The legislative power shall be vested in a Council 
of eighteen members, who shall be termed the Councillors of 
the Seneca Nation, and who shall be elected annually on the 
first Tuesday in May in each year ; and who shall be appor- 
tioned to each Reservation, according to its population — two 
thirds of whom assembled in regular session, and duly organ- 
ized, shall constitute a quorum, and be competent for the 
transaction of business ; but to all bills for the appropriation 
of public moneys, the assent of two thirds of the members 
elected shall be necessary, in order that the bill should become 
a law. 

Sec. 8. The executive power shall be vested in a Presi- 
dent, whose duty it shall be to preside at all meetings of the 
Council — having only a casting vote therein — and to see that 
all laws are duly executed ; and to communicate to the Coun- 
cil, at every session, a statement of the condition of the na- 
tional business, and to recommend for the action of the Coun- 
cil such matters as he may deem expedient. In the absence 
of the President, the Council may choose a presiding officer 
pro tempore. 

Sec. 4. The judiciary power shall be vested in three Peace- 
Makers on each Reservation ; and two of whom shall have 
power to hold courts, subject to an appeal to the Council, and 
to such courts of the State of New York as the Legislature 
thereof shall permit. The jurisdiction, forms of process, and 
proceeding in the Peace-Makers' courts, shall be the same as 
the courts of the justices of the peace of the State of New 
York, except in the proof of wills, and the settlement of de- 
ceased persons' estates — in which cases the Peace-Makers 
shall have such power as shall be conferred by law. 

Sec. 5. All causes over which the Peace-Makers have not 
jurisdiction, may be heard before the Council, or such courts 



306 APPENDIX. 

of the State of New York as the Legislature thereof shall 
permit. 

Sec. 6. The power of making treaties shall be vested in 
the Council ; but no treaty shall be binding upon the nation 
until the same shall be submitted to the people, and be ap- 
proved by three fourths of all the legal voters, and also by 
three fourths of all the mothers in the nation. 

Sec. 7. There shall be a clerk and treasurer, and superin- 
tendent of schools, and overseers of the poor, and assessors, 
and overseers of highways, whose duties shall be regulated by 
law. 

Sec. 8. Every officer who shall be authorized to receive 
public money, shall be required to give such security as the 
President and the attorney for the Seneca nation shall approve. 

Sec. 9. There shall be a marshal, and two deputies, on 
each Eeservation (Cattaraugus and Allegany), who shall exe- 
cute all processes issued by the courts, and do such other duties 
as shall be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 10. All officers named in this Constitution, or Charter, 
shall be chosen at the same time, in the same manner, and for 
the same time, as members of the Council, and vacancies 
occurring in any office shall be filled in the manner to.be 
prescribed by law ; and every male Indian of the age of twenty- 
one years and upwards, either residing on one of the Reserva- 
tions (the Cattaraugus, Allegany, or Oil Spring), or owning, 
possessing, and occupying any lands upon either of said Reser- 
vations, and which lands may have been taxed for highways, 
or other purposes, shall be entitled to vote at all elections. 

Sec. 11. Any legal voter shall be eligible to any office 
named in this Constitution or Charter ; and all officers elect 
shall be inducted into office, and if necessary shall be impeached 
by the use of such forms and regulations as shall be pre- 
scribed by law. 

Sec. 12. The compensation of members of the Council shall 
be one dollar per day while in session ; but no member shall 
receive more than twenty-six dollars in any one year. The 
compensation of all the officers shall be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 13. The Council shall meet annually on the first Tues- 



APPENDIX. 307 

day in June, and extra sessions may be convened by the Pre- 
sident at any time he shall think proper. 

Seo. 14. The Coimcil shall have power to make any laAvs 
not inconsistent with the Constitution of the United States, or 
of the State of N'ew York. 

Sec. 15. All offences which shall be punishable by the 
laws of the United States, or of the State of New York, shall 
be tried and punished in the Peace-Makers' Court, or before 
the Council, as shall be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 16. The right of any member of the ancient confede- 
racy of the Iroquois to the occupancy of our lands, and other 
privileges, shall be respected as heretofore ; and the Council 
shall pass laws for the admission of any Indian of other tribes 
or nations to citizenship and adoption into the Seneca nation 
of Indians by his or her application, for his, or herself, or 
family. 

Sec. 17. This Charter may be altered or amended by a 
Council of the people, convened for that purpose, on three 
months' previous notice, by a vote of two thirds of the legal 
voters present at such convention. 

Sec. 18. The saw-mills on the clifterent Re^^ervations, now 
in operation, are hereby declared to be national property, and 
the funds accruing therefrom shall be by the Council appropri- 
ated to national purposes. But nothing in this Charter shall 
be construed as prohibiting the erection of mUls and other 
works for manufacturing or other purposes, by any private 
individual, upon his own premises, provided that in so doing 
he do not trespass upon the rights of any other individual ; 
and all such erections by individuals shall be respected as 
strictly private property. 

Sec. 19. The laws passed by the Legislature of the State of 
New York for the protection and improvement of the Seneca 
nation of Indians, and also all laws and regulations heretofore 
adopted by the Chiefs, in legal council assembled, shall con- 
tinue in full force and effect as heretofore, except so far as 
they are inconsistent with the provisions of this Constitution 
or Charter. 

I hereby certify that the above copy has been examined 



308 APPENDIX. 

and compared with the original, now on file in the Archives 
of the Seneca nation of Indians, by me, and is a correct tran- 
script of the same and of the whole of said Declaration, Con- 
stitution, and Charter. 

"William Jemeesox, 
Clerk of the Seneca nation of Indians, 
Cattaraugus Reservation, Erie County. 
New Yoek, December 5, 1848. 

RESOLUTIONS, 

Adopted hy the Convention of the Seneca Ration of Indians^ 
DecemUr Uh^ 1848. 

Eesohed^ — That this Convention feel grateful for the re- 
ligious and scientific instruction which benevolent societies and 
individuals have bestowed upon us, as well as for the introduc- 
tion of proper means among us for our improvement ; and par- 
ticularly do we desire to express our gratitude to the Society of 
Friends ; they were the first to introduce the means for our cul- 
ture and improvement, and laid the foundation of our education 
and civilization, by which means we have become wiser and 
enlightened, and been enabled to see and understand our rights ; 
they also befriended and aided us when friendless, and without 
means to sustain ourselves in time of peril — always zealous 
and unremitting in their labors for our welfare. Also to the 
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, in 
sending us missionaries and teachers to enlighten our minds, 
and direct us to the true light, and teach us the plan of sal- 
vation: and also the State of New York, for their benevolent 
efforts in enacting laws for our protection and improvement, 
as well as for the large and generous appropriations made by 
them for the erection of school-houses, and the payment of 
school teachers among our people, and we desire that these 
kind offices may be continued. 

Resolved^— Thixl inasmuch as we have abolished our former 
Government ; that by so doing aU appointments have now be- 
come annulled ; therefore 

Resolved^ — That the Seneca nation of Indians in this Gen- 
eral Convention assembled, do hereby express their thanks to 



APPENDIX. 309 

their friend and brother Sagaoh (Philip E. Thomas), of the 
city of Baltimore and State of Maryland, for the faithful dis- 
charge of his duties as representative of our nation (under 
our late Government) to the United States Government at 
Washington, and having undiminislied confidence in his integ- 
rity and ability, we do hereby constitute and appoint him our 
ambassador, under our new form of Government, to represent 
us, and to have charge of all the interests and affairs of the 
Seneca nation of Indians to the United States Government at 
Washington. 

Eesohed^ — That as it is customary among our people, that 
whenever any important event occurs in the history of our 
nation, either by the natural transition from childhood to 
manhood, from Warrior to Chieftain, or from Chieftain to 
Sachem ; therefore we declare, that in consequence of this 
change in our Government of his re-appointment under the 
new, and with the consent of the relatives of our friend Sa- 
gaoh, that the name Sagaoh shall cease to be his name, by 
which he was called and known among us, and that hereafter 
his name shall be Hai-wa-noh (Ambassador, Representative or 
Charge d' Affaires) because he is to represent our nation and 
people, by which appellation he is henceforth to be known 
among us, and that the ceremony of christening him be imme- 
diately performed. Whereupon the ceremony of changing 
the former Indian name and christening Philip E. Thomas of 
Baltimore, was performed according to our customs and 
usages, by Sa-dye-na-wa (John Hudson), and declared that the 
said Thomas may hereafter be known by the name of Hai-wa- 
noh. (Great sensation and applause of approbation). 

EesoUed^ — That the clerk and President are hereby author- 
ized and em})owered to prepare the credentials of Hai-wa-noh 
(Philip E. Thomas), our Ambassador, whom we liave hereby 
constituted and appointed ; and forward the same to him as 
soon as practicable, together with the Declaration, and Consti- 
tutional Charter, and request him immediately to repair to the 
seat of the United States Government, and present them to 
the proper authorities, and also to notify him of the change 



3 1 APPENDIX. 

of his name, and Lis appointment as an officer of the Govern- 
ment of the Seneca nation of Indians. 

Besolved^ — That copies of the Declaration, Constitntional 
Charter, and resolutions of this convention, he forwarded by 
the clerk to the joint committee of the Society of Friends 
on Indian concerns ; and to the Governors of the States of 
New York and Massachusetts, with the request that the same 
be put on file in the proper offices ; and that our Representa- 
tive be requested to present copies of the same to the Congress 
of the United States, now covened at Washington, and to the 
Secretary at War, with the request that the same be put on 
file in their respective departments. 

Resolved^ — That we have unabated and undiminished con- 
fidence in the abilities and qualifications of the United States 
interpreter (Peter Wilson) for this agency, having always dis- 
charged his duty faithfully, and that inasmuch as the late chiefs 
under our former Government have petitioned for his removal, 
without just and reasonable cause, we hereby request our re- 
presentative to protest and remonstrate against his removal. 

Eesolved^ — That the clerk be hereby instructed to prepare 
and forward copies of the doings and proceedings of this Con- 
vention, to the publishers of the Buffalo Commercial Adver- 
tiser, and the New York Tribune, with the request that the 
same be printed in their respective papers. 

I do hereby certify that the above copy has been examined 
and compared with the original now on file in the archives of 
the Seneca nation of Indians, by me, and is a correct copy of 
the same, and of the whole of said resolutions passed by the 
General Convention. 

William Jemeeson, 
Clerk of the Seneca nation of Indians. 

Cattaraagus Reservation, ) 
Erie County, N. Y. > 
December 5, 1S4S. ) 

SiE : — You are hereby nominated, constituted, and appointed 
an Ambassador, Envoy Extraordinay, and Minister Plenipoten- 
tiary to the seat of Government of the United States of Ame- 
rica, by the Constitutional Convention and Government of 



APPENDIX. 3 1 1 

the Seneca nation of Indians, residing in the State of New 
York, to represent them in their names and behalf, with full 
powers and privileges of said office to take charge of the in- 
terests and affairs of your Government and nation : and wliat- 
ever you may do in our names and behalf will be binding upon 
us, and of the same effect as if we had been present and con- 
senting thereto ; and you are hereby authorized and empowered 
to proceed with the business of your nation as they shall from 
time to time direct, and as you may deem just and proper. 

You are also hereby authorized and requested to proceed 
immediately to the seat of the United States Government, and 
present this, your credentials, to the proper authorities. 

You are also informed that your official duties commence 
with the date of this commission and appointment as an officer 
of the Seneca nation of Indians. 

By order of the Convention and Government of the Seneca 
nation of Indians. 

S. W. McLane, President. 
William Jemeeson, Cleric. 
Cattaraugus Reservation, Erie County, N. Y., 

December 5th, 1848. 
To HAI-WA-XOH, {Philip E. Thomas,) 
Atnbassaclor, &c., &c., 

Baltimore, Maryland. 



NO. IV. 



The following extracts from the proceedings of the yearly 
meetings of the Friends of Baltimore, in the year 1850, wiU 
give some idea of the present condition of the women, and the 
understanding they have of governmental as well as domestic 
affairs : 

"Thus we see the Seneca nation with a government 'cal- 
culated,' to use their own language, ' to answer the purpose 
for which all governments should be created,' We find their 
women mostly withdrawn from the field, and occupying their 



312 APPENDIX. 

proper station in their families, — their children suitably cared 
for at home, and at school, having the benefit of literary and 
scientific learning, "We have, for several years past, had among 
them an Institution for the instruction of their daughters in 
the duties of housewifery, and other appropriate domestic em- 
ployments. They are provided with good dwelling-houses 
and barns— are the undisputed owners of a fertile, productive 
soil, of ample extent for all their purposes, yielding more than 
the nation can consume ; and in addition to these advantages, 
they are in receipt of annuities more than sufficient to defray 
all the expenses of their government. 

" When the present joint committees first visited the Res- 
ervations, in the years 1839 and 1840, a very large portion of 
the Indians lived in wigwams, or poor log huts — covered with 
bark, boards, or other materials, hardly sufficient to shield 
them from the weather. Many of them had earth floors, on 
which they slept in bufifalo skins and blankets. They set no ' 
table, had no regular meals — used no plates, nor knives and 
forks. An iron pot was generally found placed over the fire, 
into which they put beans and hominy, and a piece of some 
sort of meat — either pork or venison. When any one of the 
family was hungry, he helped himself to what he wanted, put- 
ting it in a small wooden vessel, and feeding himself with a 
wooden or iron spoon. The interior of the dwellings gener- 
ally presented to the eye a spectacle by no means calculated to 
warm the imagination in favor of Indian life. The truth is, 
that woman had been driven from her proper sphere, and no 
domestic happiness could enter the dwelling in her absence. 

" The Manual-labor School was established as one of the 
means of restoring woman to the station evidently designed 
for her, in the benevolent order of her Creator, an order 
which cannot be broken with impunity. This school was held 
in the dwelling erected for the use of Friends at Cattaraugus. 
The average number of pupils was about twenty-eight, gener- 
erally under twenty years of age. They were boarded in the 
family, at the expense of the committee, and were taught to 
card and spin wool, knit stockings, cut out and make gar- 
ments, &c. A part of their number was daily admitted into 



APPENDIX. 313 

the ffimily of the Superintendent, where they were tanght to 
wash and iron clothes, &c., make bread, do plain cooking, and 
every other branch of good housewifery, pertaining to a coun- 
try life. In this department all were admitted by turns, gen- 
erally four at a time, and continued until the necessary profi- 
ciency was attained. As such left the school, others took their 
places, by which arrangement, a large number of young women 
became qualified to take charge of families, and extend to suc- 
ceeding generations the comforts and blessings of domestic life. 

Memoeial of the Seneca "Women to P. E. Thomas. 

\_Orighial sent to the Indian Bureau.'] 

Cattaeaugus Reservation, Oct. 13, 1848. 
To our Respected Friend, Philip E. Thomas : 

The women of Cattaraugus Reservation wish to address to 
you a few words, in this time of our trouble, and we do so the 
more cheerfully, because the Friends are always laboring to 
promote the welfare of the females among the Indians, and to 
improve their condition. We would also request you to se- 
cure the influence of the Society of Friends, so that our words 
may be strengthened, and become sufficiently powerful to be 
heard by the Secretary of War, that we women have an equal 
right to our annuities, with the men, and with the chiefs. 
We are all on the same footing as to the amount we are en- 
titled to receive — chiefs and warriors, men, women and chil- 
dren. W'e were glad when we heard that the Secretary had 
instructed our new Agent, to pay the annuities for this year 
to the heads of families. We see no other way by which our 
rights can be secured to us, and justice done alike to all. We 
hope you will urge the Secretary to confirm his former instruc- 
tions, for we were greatly perplexed and troubled, when the 
Agent was induced to delay the payment, on the ground that 
the chiefs insisted on the observance of the old custom in re- 
gard to it. We asTc for our just rights and nothing more ; 
but we repeat it, that we do not feel that our rights will be 
safe, if these instructions to the Agent shall be reversed. We 
regret that the Agent should have thought it necessary to de- 
14 



314 APPENDIX. 

lay a strict compliance with his instructions, but we do not 
yet feel disheartened, for we have confidence that the Secre- 
tary will manifest a due regard to our rights. Only we beg 
leave to repeat our request, that you will bring all the weight 
of your influence, and that of your Society, to bear upon this 
question, that he may be willing to confirm his former deci- 
sion, and give every Indian woman, and child, no less than oth- 
ers, the apportionment which of right belongs to each. 

And we would desire to add, that we have already suf- 
fered greatly from the proceedings of the chiefs, through 
whose instrumentality our poverty has been increasing upon 
us, and we wish to entreat that we may never again, hereafter, 
be exposed to be deprived by them of our rights, but that we 
and our children, from time to time, may be permitted to re- 
ceive the full and proper share which rightfully belongs to us. 
We are fully sensible that it is a hard case to have a difiiculty 
with the chiefs, but we feel that we have been wronged by 
them, and our children have suffered already, and for a long 
time past, through their avarice and pride, and we believe the 
things they have said in justification of themselves are not 
true. It is by our pain and sorrow that children are brought 
into the world, and we are, therefore, interested in whatever 
concerns the welfare of our children. We have examined this 
subject, and we are satisfied that the party who are laboring 
to bring about an equal division of the whole of our annuities, 
are the party really striving for the best interests of our chil- 
dren. 

We have taken the same view of the matter which was 
taken by the old men long since dead, who first entered into 
these arrangements. They decided that every individual man, 
woman, and child, had an equal right to our moneys, and to 
our lands — in short, to all our national property ; that it was 
so from the beginning, and that it always should be so. We 
have taken the liberty to express our views, because we believe 
this to be the real truth, and we would earnestly desire the 
President and Secretary of War to secure to us now, and to 
our posterity in all time to come, the fulfilment of the original 
stipulations, that a^ long afi icood should r/row^ or water run, 



On lielmlf 
of the Sen- 
eca women. 



APPENDIX. 315 

or a Seneca live to leJiold the light of the sun^ these annuities 
should he faithfully paid and righteously distributed. 
With great respect, your friends, 

Their 

Betsey + Sxow. 
Julia -f Anx Snow. 
Jaxe -j- Scott. 
Gaxxa + Hon. ^ 

Polly + Jonxsox. 
Mae TO A + Phillips. __ 

marks. 

Done in the presence of 
Joseph S. Waltox, 
AsHER Wright. 

Memorial or the Sexeca Womex to the President. 

To his Excellency General Zachary Taylor, President of the 
United States of xiraerica : 

The nndersigned, mothers, heads of families, wives, and 
grown up daughters of the Seneca nation of Indians, residing 
in Western New York, respectfully represent to our Father 
the President, that we have heard with extreme regret that 
an educated young man from among our sons and brothers is 
at Washington, importuning the President to undo the good 
which has been done for our people by his predecessors, and to 
destroy the effect, as far as the Senecas are concerned, of the 
wise regulation, that a portion of all the Indian annuities 
should be distributed just at seedtime, every spring, in order 
to facilitate and encourage agriculture. We wish our sons to 
be industrious — to be in the field, stirring the soil betimes, pro- 
curing a bountiful harvest as the fruits of God's blessing upon 
their own honest exertions : not leaving it for the women to 
raise corn, as did their hunting, fishing, and fighting fore- 
fathers. The days of hunting and fishing, and we trust, also, 
of Indian fighting, are gone by for ever, and it pains us exceed- 
ingly that an educated son of ours, and one, too, who, if he 
would consult the well-being of his people, might be so smart 
and useful, should now be trying, either of his own wiU, or 
under the direction of those whom, if they had sought the 



316 APPENDIX. 

public good, we should have rejoiced to call our chiefs, to 
thwart the wishes of this people, check the pursuits of agricul- 
ture, and bring embarrassing and perplexing want upon the 
destitute, who have been relying upon the stability of the coun- 
sels of the United States Government for the relief of tlieir 
necessities. TVe have m.any and to us weighty reasons why 
our Father, the President, should not heed the petition of our 
son, whom we did not send to speak for us to the President ; 
but lest it should be thought that Indian women have tongues 
that never tire, we only add that it is the earnest prayer of 
the undersigned, in their own behalf, and in behalf of a large 
majority of the mothers, wives, and daughters of the Seneca 
nation, that the recognition of the new Government may be 
permitted to stand ; and that we may be paid our annuities 
according to the rule adopted in 1847", for the payment of all 
the tribes receiving annuities from the government, i. e., during 
the current month ; and your memorialists, as in duty bound, 
will ever pray. 

Signed, Gua-na-ea, and 

Nineteen other females. 

April 4, 1849. 

Reply of Philip E. Thomas to these Womex. 

Baltimore, 4 mo., Sth, 1S49. 

My Respected Sisters : — Your address to the President 
of the United States has reached me, and has received my 
careful attention. I am glad to inform you that all you ask in 
regard to the manner of paying your annuities, and the ac- 
knowledgment of your new Government, has been decided as 
you wish. The annuities hereafter will be paid by the United 
States Agent to the heads of families — to the women as to 
the men, and none will again be paid to the chiefs except their 
own respective portions. 

By the acknowledgment of your new Constitution, the 
Government of the United States recognizes that excellent 
article in it, which provides that no sale of Land can hereafter 
be made without the consent of three fourths of all the 



APPENDIX. 317 

mothers in tho nation. This wise provision assures to you 
the security of your homes ; for I have too much confidence 
in my Indian Sisters to beheve they vrill ever be prevailed on 
to take the land from their children, and send them away to 
perish in the wilderness. 

It gave me pleasure to read your address to the President. 
It proved to me that you were beginning to understand your 
rights, and were disposed to exercise them. I hope you will 
remember the good advice the committee gave you in the year 
1845, and as some of you may not have heard it then, I now 
send you a copy of it under care of my brother Joseph S. 
Walton. 

Bear this advice in your minds ; it is good counsel, and 
endeavor to practise it. 

"Whenever you may desire to make any communication to 
me, you are at liberty to do it. — You will find me your faithful 
friend and brother, 

r. E. Thomas. 



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3lfst of %in\ Bnigrnbfn^s roulai'iuii tn l!)is Jlllustrattlj JEJJiti'on. 



NAPOLEON. 
JOSEPHINE. 
MARIA LOUISA, 
DUKE OF REICH8TADT, 



LUCIEN BONAPARTE, 
MARSHAL JUNOT, 
CHARLES BONAPARTE, 
PAULINE BONAPARTE, 



MADAME LAETITIA BONAPARTE, ELIZA BONAPARTE, 
CHARLES BONAPARTE, 

Probably no Avriter has had tbe same op- 
portunities for becoming acquaintml with 

NAPOLEON THE GEE AT 
as the Duchess D'Abrantes. Her mother 
rocked him in his cradle, and when he 
quitted Brienne and came to Paris, she guid- 
ed and protected his younger days. Scarcely 
a day passed without his visiting her hou/e 
during the period which preceded his depar- 
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COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. 
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wlio afterwards became the master of the 
greater part of Europe. 

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BRILLIANT ENGAGEMENTS 
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of nearly 

THIRTY YEARS, 
the Duchess became familiar with all the 
?eciet springs of 

NAPOLEON'S ACTIONS, 



JEROME BONAPARTE, 
LOUIS BONAPARTE, 
CARDINAL FESCH, 
LOUISA, QUEEN OF 
JOSEPH BONAPARTE. 



either through her husband or by her own 
personal knowledge and observation at the 
Court of Napoleon. 

JOSEPHINE, 
whose life and character so peculiarly attract 
the attention of all readers, occupies a great 
part of the first volume. The character and 
the deeds of 

THE EMPERORS AND KINGS, 

THE GREAT MEN OF THE DAY, 

THE MARSHALS OF THE EMPIRE, 

THE DISTINGUISHED LADIES OP 

THE COURT, 
are described with minuteness, which per- 
sonal observation only admits of. The work 
is written in that 

FAMILIAR GOSSIPING STYLE, 
and so interspersed with anecdotes that the 
reader never wearies. She has put every 
thing in her book — great events and small. 

BATTLES AND BALLS, 

COURT INTRIGUES AND BOUDOIR 

GOSSIP, 

TREATIES AND FLIRTATIONS, 

making two of the most charming volumes 
of memoirs, which will interest the reader 
in spite of himself. 



Opinions of the Press. 

" These anecdotes of Napoleon are the best yet given to tho world, because the most 
intimate and familiar."' — London Literary Gazette. 

" We consider the performance now before us as more authentic and amusing than any 
other of its kind." — London Quarterly Review. 

" Every thing relating to Napoleon is eagerly sought for and read in this country as well 
as in Europe, and this work, with its extraordinary "attractions, will not fail to command 
ft wide circulation. Madame Junot possessed qualifications for writing a semi-domestic 
history of the great Corsican which no other person, male or female, could command." — 
Life lUiustrated. 



D. APPLET ON d CO:S PUBLICATIONS. 
A Work abonnding in Exciting Scenes and Remarkable Incidents. 



Capt. Canot ; 



OK, 

TWENTY YEARS OF AIT AFRICAiT SLAYER: 

BEING AX ACCOUNT OF HIS CAEEEPw AND ADVENTURES ON THE COAST, IJI 
THE INTERIOR, ON SHIPBOARD, AND IN THE WEST INDIES. 

Written out and Edited from the Captain's Journals, Memoranda, and Conversationa. 
BY B R A N T Z MAYER. 

One Yolume, i'2mo. With eight Ilhistrations. Price $1 25. 



Criticisms of the Press. 

"The author is a literary gentleman of Baltimore, no Abolitionist, and we believe the 
work to be a truthful account of the life of a man who saw much more than falls to the lot 
of most men." — Commnnicedlth. 

"A remarkable volume is this: because of its undoubted truth : it having been derived 
by Mayer from personal conversations with Canot, and from journals which the slaver fur- 
nished of his own life." — Worcester Palladium. 

"Capt. Canot, the hero of the narrative, is, to our own knowledge, a veritable person- 
age, and resides in Baltimore. There is no doubt that the main incidents connected with 
his extraordinary career are in every respect true.'" — Arthur's Home Gazettf. 

" Under one aspect, as the biography of a remarkable man who passed through a sin- 
gularly strange and eventful experience, it is as interesting as any sea story that we have 
ever read." — Boston Evening Traveller. 

" Capt. Canot has certainly passed through a life of difficulty, danger, and wild, daring 
ad\entnre, which has much the air of romance, and still he, or rather his editor, tells the 
tale with so much straightforwardness, that we cannot doubt its truthfulness." — Neio York. 
Sunday Despatch. 

"The work coidd not have been better done if the principal actor had combined 
the descriptive talent of De Foe with the astuteness of Fouclie and the dexterity of Gil 
Bias, which traits are ascribed to the worthy whose acquaintance we shall soon make by 
his admiring editor." — K. Y. Tribune. 

" The ge'neral style of the work is attractive, and the narrative spirited and bold— well 
suited to the daring and hazardous course of life led by the adventurer. This book is illus- 
trated by several excellent engravings." — Baltimore American. 

"The biogi-aphy of an African slaver as taken from his own lips, and giving his adven- 
tures in this tratiic for twenty years. With great natural keenness of perception and com- 
plete communicativeness, he has literally unmasked his real life, and tells botii what he 
was and what he saw, the latter being the PJiotograph of tlie Negro in Africa, which has 
been so long wanted. A nephew of Mr. Mayer has illustrated the volume with eight ad- 
nurable drawings. We should think no book of the present day would be received with 
so keen an interest."— //ow*? Jourruil. 

'■Capt. Canot has passed most of his life since 1819 on the ocean, and bis catalogue of 
ailventures at sea and on land, rival in srotesqueness and apparent improbability the mar- 
vels of Ilobiiison Crusoe." — Ev^rdng Post. 

"If stirring incidents, hair-breadtii escapes, and variety of adventure, can make a book 
interesting, this must possess abundant attractions." Newark Daily Advertiser. 

"This is a true record of the life of one who had spent the greater part of his days in 
dealing in human flesh. We commend this book to all lovers of adventure." — Boston 
Christian Recorder. 

" We would advise every one who is a lover of ' books that are books' — every one who 
admires Le Sage and De Foe, and has lingered long over the charming pages of Gii Bias 
and Robinson Crusoe — every one, pro-slavery or anti-slavery, to purchase this book."— 
Buffalo Courier. 



D. APPLETON & CO:S PUBLICATIONS. 
Rev. Samuel Osgood's Two Popolar Books. 



1. 

Mile Stones in our Life Journey, 

SECOND EDITION . 
One Volume, 12mo. Cloth. Price $1. 



Opinions of the Press. 

" In so small a compass, we rarely meet with more Catholic sympathies, and with a 
clearer or more practical view of the privileges enjoyed by, and the duties enjoined, npon 
us all, at any stage of our mortal pilgrimafu .'' — Church Journal. 

"Some passages remind us forcibly of Addison and Go\^s>m\th."'—Independe7it. 

"This little volume is one of those books which are read by all classes at all stages of 
life, with an interest which loses notiiing by change or c\xc\xm&t&ncQ&:'—Pennsylv<inian. 

" He writes kindly; strongly and readably; nor is their any thing in this volume of a 
narrow, bigoted, or sectarian "character.'" — Life Jllu>itrat''d. 

"His counsels are faithful and wholesome, his reflection touching, and the whole is 
clothed in a style graceful and free." — Hartford Relig. Herald. 

" This is a volume of beautiful and cogent essays, virtuous in motive, simple in expres- 
sion, pertinent and admirable in logic, and glorious in conclusion and climax." — Buffalo 
Ea-press. 

"It is written with exquisite taste, is full of beautiful thought most felicitously ex- 
pressed, and is pervaded by a genial and benevolent spirit." — I>r. Sprague. 

" Almost every page has a tincture of elegant scholarship, and bears witness to an ox- 
tensive reading of good authors."— -S/'yawi. 



II. 

The Hearth-Stone ; 

THOUGHTS UPON HOME LIFE IX OUR CITIES. 
BY SAMUEL OSGOOD, 

AUTHOR OP " 6TITDIES IN CHKISTIAN BIOGRAPHY," " GOD WITH MEN," KXa 

FOUirni EDITION. 
One Volume, 12mo. Cloth. Price $1. 



Criticisms of the Press. 

"This is a volume of elegant and impressive es-says on the domestic relations and reli- 
gious duties of the household. Mr. Osgood writes on these interesting themes in the most 
charming and animated stvle, winning the reader's judgment rather than coercing it to the 
author's conclusions. The predominant sentiments in the book are purity, sincerity, and 
love. A more delightful volume has rarely been publisiied, and we trust it will have f 
wit.<> circulation, for its influence must be salutary upon both old and yo\XQg.''—Commer- 
cia' Advertiner. 

"The ' Hearth-Stone' is the svmbol of all those delightful truths which Mr. Osgood hert, 
annoctswith it. In a free and graceful style, varying from deep solemnitj to the most 
genial and lively tone, as beflts his range of subjects, he gives attention to wise thoughts 
on holy things, and homely truths. His volume will find many warm hearts to which it 
will address \{seU.'"— Christian Examiner. 



D. APPLETON & CO:^ PUBLICATIONS. 



A Great IVatioiial Work. 



Party Leaders. 



SKETCHES OF 

JEFFERSON, HAMILTON, RANDOLPPI, JACKSON, AND CLAY: 

Including Notices of many other Distinguished American Statesmen. 

BY J. G. BALDWIN, 

(Now of San Francisco, California.) Author of " Flusli Times of .ilabama and Mississippi ' 
One Volume, 12mo. Cloth. Price $1, 



OPINIONS OF EMINENT MEN. 

From Ex-Pi'eaident Fillmore. 

I have read " Party Leaders" with great satisfaction and delight, and return j'ou a thou 
sand thanks for the pleasure and instruction I have derived from the perusal. 
From Ronorahle Edwaed Everett. 

"What little I have as yet been able to read of it, has impressed me very ftxvorably in re- 
ference to the ability and impartiality with whicii it is drawn up. I am prepared to read 
it with interest and advantage, in consequence of the pleasure I derived from '-The Flush 
Times in Alabama." 

From Uonorahle J. P. Kennedy. 

I was greatly delighted with the fine, discriminating, acute insight Avith which the cha- 
racters presented in the work are drawn, and with the eloquent style of the sketches. I 
but repeat the common opinion of the best judges, which I hear every where expressed, 
when I commend these qualities of the book, 

"The Flush Times of Alabama" had whetted my desire to see this second production 
of Mr. Baldwin's pen, aud 1 can hardly express to you the agreeable surprise I enjoyed in 
finding a work of such surpassing merit in a tone and manner so entirely different from the 
first— demonstrating that double gift in the author which enables him to excel in two such 
opposite departments of literature. 

Fro}7i lion. E. M. T. Hunter, TI. S. Senator from Virginia. 

I have read "Party Leaders" with great pleasure. It is written with ability, and with 
freshness, and grace of style, * * * -phe chapters on Randolph are capital. 
From Hon. James M. Mason, U. S. Senator fvom Virginia. 

I have heard " Party Leaders " highly commended by those competent to judge, but 
confess I was not prepared for the intellectual and literary feast its rich pages have yielded. 

As a literary work, I shall be much disappointed if it does not place its author at once 
in the first rank of American literature, and even in old England. I shall look for its place 
next to, if not by the side of, the kindred works of Mcintosh and Macaulay. 
From a Dlating^dshed Statesman. 

It is a noble production, full of profound thought, discriminating judgment, just criti 
cism, and elevated sentiments, all expressed in the most captivating and eloquent style. It 
is a book just according to my fancy, and, I think, one of the most captivating in oui 
language. 



D. APPLETON & CO:S PUBLICATIONS. 
A Practical Book on the Breeding: of Fish. 



A COMPLETE TREATISE ON 

Artificial Fifli-Breeding : 

INCLUDING THE EEPOETS ON THE SUBJECT MADE TO THE FRENCH 
ACADEMY AND THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT, AND PARTICU- 
LARS OF THE DISCOVERY AS PURSUED IN ENGLAND. 

TEANSLATED AND EDITED BY 

WM. H. FRY. 
ILLUSTRATED WITH ENGRAVINQS. 

One Volume. 12ino. Cloth. Price 75 cents. 



Opinions of the Press. 

"A very genial and entertaining, though practical and scientific book. No one who 
loves the existence in our rivers, brooks, or lakes, of trout and salmon, should be without 
it.'" — Broome Republic. 

" In this little volume, the whole process of fish-culture is described so [dainly and with 
so much minuteness that any person will have no difiiculty in informing himself sufficiently 
well to engage in the business ; provided he has the necessary facilities and leisure, with a 
good running stream or pond, and the proper attention, a great brood of fishes may bo 
hatched from the eggs, and raised up for the market or the table ; and such delicacies are 
trout and salmon, that it is evident that the business of producing them for sale may be 
made profitable." — Worcester Palladium. 

" This discovery is treated as a matter of great public benefit in France and England, 
where it is practised under the direction and patronage of Government, and is beginning to 
work its results in stocking rivers and lakes, with the finest species of fish, where few or 
none have before existed for many years." — Ohio Cultivator. 

" Every farmer who has a stream flowing through his land, or miller who wishes to turn 
his ponds to some account, should make himself acquainted with the details of the book.*^ 
•^I^ewark Daily Advertiser. 



•' A GREAT, A GLORIOUS BOOK."-Cour. & Enq. 

D. APPLETOX & CO., 346 & 348 BROADWAY, 

HATE JUST PUBLISHED 

THE YIRGINIA COMEDIANS; 

OE, 

©lir gap ill tlje ©lir gominian. 

FROM THE MSS, OF 

C. EFFINGHAM, Esq. 

Two vols. 12mo. paper, $1; cloth, Si 50. 
A volume which has been pronounced the best novel of the day. 



Peruse the criticisms of the following 2><^p€rs. 

"It is not oiilr unlike the monstrous mass of efforts vrhJch nave preceded it — and 
therefore, attractive in the light of comparison, and for its perfect newness— but it is 
freighted with such an ardor of style, fervor of imagination, beauty of description, both 
as regards characters and scenes, and a plenitude of genial spirit, that its reader is sure 
to be its lover, 

" The story, which commences about the middle of the last century, is located in 
Virginia, \t& personce, in dramatis being composed of many choice spirits who figured, 
or were supposed to figure, at that period. We have not seen its equal for many a day, 
and heartily apply to it the old verse, 

' May this book continue in motion. 
And its leaves every da}' be unfurled.* " 

Buffalo Courier. 

" The period of the story is about the middle of the last century ; the place Williams- 
burg, Virginia, and its vicinity; the characters Virginia gentlemen of that day and 
generation, among whom comes Beatrice Hallam, the leading actress of a company of 
comedians of that ilk, and one of the most striking, truthful, and lovable characters in 
modern fiction. The interest of the book never flags. The characters are such that we 
cannot be indifferent to them, and the author absorbs us in their actions and their fate." 
—Courier <& Enquirer. 

" The tone of the book is intensely national. It has come on us completely by sur 
piise, for we had no concei>tion of its character, until we were half through the first 
volume, and we must confess that we were at the outset extremely unprepared far 
Buch a display of literary power." — jV! Y. Express. 



D. Ai->pletoii & Comimny^s PubUcntions. 



"Chestnut Wood will light up many a hearth with pleasure. 



CHEST^NTUT WOOD: 

BY LIELE LINDEN. 

Two volumes, 12mo. Paper covers, $1 25; cloth, |1 75. 



PLOT OF THE 6T0EY. 

Chestnut Wood is a country-seat, near Sleepy Hollow, owned and 
occupied by Mr. Atherton, a man of stern but not unkind disposition. 
The better feelings of his heart are brought into action, by the circum- 
stances of his young grand-daughter, Sybil, the heroine of the talc, who 
is thrown, b}^ the death of her mother at a farm-house in the vicinity, 
where she has been rescued from exposure on the road, upon his pro- 
tection. The father of Sybil, as may be inferred from the fate of her 
mother, is a worthless scoundrel, who endeavors, with the help of 
associates as worthless as himself, to get possession of the child. They 
succeed in carrying her off, and concealing her in New York, where 
they employ her as an unconcious agent in the circulation of counter- 
feit money. She escapes from the wardship of an old misshapen hag, 
Moll, and is brought back to her home at Chestnut Wood ; where, how- 
ever, she is still nubject to occasional manifestations from the seme 
source. 



Opinicns of the Press. 

" One of the pleasantcst characters in the book is Jerry Goldsmith, a Yankee Caleb 
Qnoteni, ready to turn his hand to any thing, and more profuse in promise than per- 
formance. " — Churchman. 

"One -n-ho has read it from preface to jfinis. pronounces it delightful; and henc« 
our praise. She says there are spots that those who have tears can cry over, but never 
so sad that the tears need scald much."'— i\^. Y. Daily Timers. 

" "We commend to men, women, and even children, a perusal of 'Chestnut Wood.' " 
Lawrence Sentinel. 

"This work will bo read. It has all the elements of a successful book, viz: origin 
allty, interest, power, and stronsr characterization.'" — Berks Coicnty Press, 

"It will please from its truthfulness to nature, and from the effect It will leave oa 
the mind of the vesii\(t\-:'— Hartford Courant. 

" Its plot is well developed, is ingenious, but not too intricate, and Is managed 
throughoiit with the skill of a ma&tdr."— Palladium. 

"The characters are very well and forcibly drawr), i>articularly the 'cute Yftak8«, 
Jerry Goldsmith ' — Mobile Adv. 



D. A2JpIeto7i (& Comfany''s Pullications. 



"A WORK WHICH BEAES THE IMPRESS OF QENIUfl" 



K AT FT APvINE ASHTON. 

By the author of "Amy Herbert,"' "Gertrude," &c. 
2 vols. ]2iuo. Paper oovei-s, 51 ; cloth. Si 50. 

Opinions of the Press. 

We kno.v not where we will find purer morals, or more valuable "life-phil(eophy, 
934n in the pages of Miss Sewell. — Siiranmih GenrgUin. 

The style and character of Mi-<s Sewell's writinirs are too well known to the reading 
public to need commendation. Tiie present volume will only add to her reputation ad 
aa authoress. — Al-bon;/ Tranfieript. 

This novel is admirably calculated to inculcate refined moral and religious setiti 
tnents.—Bosi07i Hevul'L 

The int2rest of the story is well sustained throughout, and it is aU«i«:ether one of th« 
Dieasantest btK)k3 of the season. — Synicu^e St<ind<u'J. 

Those who have read the former -vorks of this writer, will welcome tlie appearanc* 
of this ; it is equal to the best of her preceding novels. — Sd-vannaJi RepithUcan. 

Ni>ble, beautiful, selfish, hard, and ugly characters ai)pear in it. and each is so drawn 
&.<■ to be felt and estimated as it deserves. — Comnxinwedlth. 

A re-publication of a good Knglish novel. It teaches self-control, cliarity. and a 
true estimation of life, by the interesting history of a young girl. — Hartford Co'urnni. 

Katharine Ashton will enhance tiie reputation already attained, the story and i\\9 
moral being equally commendable.— ^'(./fi'/o Courier. 

Like all its predecessors, Katharine Ashton bears the impress of genius, consecrated 
t<i the noblest purposes, and should find a welcome in every family circle. — Bunnei' 
of til e Cross. 

No one can be injured by books like this : a sreat many must be benefited. Few 
authors have sent &o many faultless writings to the press as she has done. — Worcester 
Pullidium. 

The nelf-denial of the Chri.stian life, in its application to common scenes and cir 
cnmstances, is happily illustrated in the example of Katharine Ashton, in which there 
is much to admire and imitate — Soutkern ChurclaiuiiK 

Her present work is an interesting tale of English country life, is written with hei 
usual abilitv, and is quite free from any offensive parade of her own theological tenets, 
-Boston fraceUer. 

The field in which Miss Sewell labors, seems to be exhaustless, and to yield always 
a beautiful and. a valuable harvest— Troy Ddily Budget. 

T). APrLETON & COMPANY 
Hare recently pnblishrd I he folloRnng intereRtimj viorks bi/ the same author. 

TIIE EXPERIENCE OF LIFE. 1 vol. 12ino. Paper, oO cents; 

cloth, 75 cents. 

THE EAKUS DAUGHTER. 1 vol. 12mo. Paper, 50 cents; 

cloth, 75 cents. 
(4 E INTRUDE: a Tale. 1 vol. 12ino. Paper, 50 cts; cloth, 75 cts. 
AMY HERBERT: A Tale. 1 vol. 12ino. Paper, 50 cents; 

cloth 75 cents. 
LAN; ETON PARSONAGE. 3 vols. 12nio. Paj.er, $1 50, 
cloth. |2 25. 

MARGARET PERCIVAL. 2 vols. Paper, $1 ; cloth, $1 50. 

IiE.\DING FOR A MONTH. 12mo. cloth, 75 cents. 

A JOURNAL KEPT DURING A SUMMER TOUR. 1 vol 

cloth, II 00. 

WALTER LORTMER AND OTHER TALES. ClotTi, 75 cents 
TIIE CHILD'S FIRST HISTORY OF ROME. 60 cents. 
THE CHILD'S FIRST HISTORY OF GEEECE. C8 cents. 



5c w Copyright Works, Adapted for Popular Reading. 

JUST PUBLISHED. 

BY D. APPLETON 6: CO. 

PERSO^^AL NAERATrYE OF EXPLORA- 
TIONS AND INCIDENTS IN TEXAS, NEW MEXICO, CALIFOR. 
NIA, SONORA, AND CHIHUAHUA, CONNECTED WITH THH 
MEXICAN BOL^NDAET COMMISSION, DUPwING THE YEAES 1860 
'61, '62, and '53. 

BY JOHN RUSSELL BARTLETT, 

United States Commissioner during that period. 
In 2 vols. 8vo, of nearly 600 pages each, printed with large 
«ype and on extra fine paper, to be illustrated with nearly 100 
wood-cuts, sixteen tinted lithographs and a beautiful map, 
cnj raved on steel, of the extensive regions traversed. Price, $5. 

AFRICA AKD THE AMERICA]^ FLAG. 

BY ANDREW H. FOOTE, 

lAtutenant Commanding the U. S. Brig Porpoise, on the Coast e/ 

Africa, 18ol-'53. 

With tinted lithographic illustrations. One volume 12mo. 

in. 

CAPT. CAKOT; or, TWENTY YEARS OF A 

SLAYEE'S LIFE. 

EDITED BY BRANTZ MAYER. 

With numerous illustrations. One vol. 12mo, cloth. 

RUSSIA AS IT IS. 

BY THE COUNT DE GUROWSKI. 

One voL 12mo, cloth. 

TEMPEST AND SUNSHINE; ok, LLFE IN 

KENTUCKY. 
BY MRS. MARY J. HOLMES, 

One vol. 12mo, paper cover or cloth. 

FARMIN^GDALE. 

A TALE BY CAROLINE THOMAS. 

One vol. 12mo, paper cover or cloth. 
♦,* Excels in interest, and is quite equal in its delineation of charaetof \t 
Th« Wide, Wide World." 

VIL 

THE HIYE OF THE BEE HUNTER. 

BY T. B. THORPE. 

Witk B«Teral illustrations. One vol. 12mo, cloth. 



D. APPLETON & CO:S PUBLICATIONS. 



CJlaoico I^ox'^ DE3aa.sl^.aa.cl. T^^lo. 



FARMING DALE, 

A TALK. 

BY CAROLi:sE THOMAS. 
Two volumes, 12mo., paper covers, 75 cents, or 2 volumes in 1, cloth, $1 

•* It is a story of New England life, skilfully told, full of tender interest, healthy in its 
•entiments and remarkably graphic in its sketches of character. 'Aunt Bet?}' ' is draws 
to the life,"— /7b?7ie Gazette. 

" Farniingdale is the best novel of the season."— ^re. Po^t. 

" It will compare favorably with the ' Lamplighter,' by Miss Cummings, and the 
Wide, Wide World,' by Miss Warner, and in interest it is quite equal to cither." — Boston 
TvanHcript. 

" ' Farmingdale,' the work to which we allude, in every page and paragraph, is redolent 
of its native sky. It is a tale of New Kngland domestic life, in its incidents and manners 
80 true to nature and so free from exaggeration, and in its impulses and motives throughout 
so throbbing with the real American heart, that we shall not bo surprised to hear of as 
many New England villages claiming to be the scene of its story, as were the cities of 
Greece that claimed to be the birth-place of Homer." — Philadelphia Courier. 

"The story abounds in scenes of absorbing interest The narration is every where de- 
ijrhtfully clear and straightforward, flowing forth towards its conclusion, like a gentle and 
impld stream, between graceful hillsides and verdant meadows.'' — Home Journal. 

"Tliis is a story of country life, written by a hand whose guiding power was a living 
soul. The pictures of life are speaking and eflFective. The story is interestingly told and its 
high moral aim well sustained.''— ^?/racMse CJironicle. 

'" Farmingdale,' while it has many points in common with some recent works of fic- 
tion, is yet highly original. The author has had the boldness to attempt a novel, the main 
Interest of which does not hinge either upon love or matrimony, nor upon complicated and 
entangled machinery, but upon a simple and apparently artless narrative o^ a friendless 
girl." — Philadelphia Eve. Mail. 

"Theautlior studiously avoids all forced and unnatural incidents, and the equally 
fashionable atfectation of extravagant languiige. Her style and diction are remarkable for 
tlieir purity and ease. In the conception and delineation of character she has shown her- 
self possessed of the true creative power." — Com. Adv. 

'• A simple yet beautiful story, told in a simple ami beautiful manner. The object is to 
sliow the de\ote<l affection of a sister to a young brother, and the sacrifices which she made 
for him from childhood. There is a touching simiilicity in the character of this interesting 
f»'i:i3le tiiat will please all readers, and benefit many of her sex." — Hartford Courant. 

•♦The tale is prettily written, and brcai^hes throughout an excellent n)oral tone."— i?(;«/o« 
bihdy Journal. 

•♦ We have read this book : It is lively, spirited, and in some parts pathetu',. Its sketchea 
of life seeui to us at once graceful and vivid.'" — Albany Argus. 

"The book is well written, in a simple, unpretending style, and the dialogue is naturaJ 
*:ic' easy. It is destined to great popularity among all classes of readers. Parents who 
object placing 'love tales' in the hands of their children, may purchase this volume with- 
©ut fear. The oldest and the youngest will become interested in its fascinating pages, ao^ 
cloee it with the impression that it is a good book, and deserving of the greatest popularity.' 
- War center Palladium. 



PARKYKS' ADVENTURES IN ABYSSINIA 
D. APPLETON <t COMPANY, 346 & 348 Broadway 

HAVE JCST PUBLISHED 

LIFE IN ABYSSINIA, 

Beine the Personal Narrative of an Englishman, a long resident in th«. 

Country. 

By MANSFIELD PARKYNS, Eso. 

With Illustrations. 2 vols. l2mo. Price, 82 60. Cloth. 



LITERARY CRITICISMS. 



"Of one thing we are convinced, and that is, that few that talvO up "Life Ln 
Abyssinia," will lay it down without reading it through, and without exclaiming 
when they come to the end " what an amusing book this is, and what an agi-eeable 
savage is Mansfield Parkyns." — Black wood's Rlagazine, 

"Since the appearjince of "Typee and Omoo," we have seen no more agreeable 
volumes of travel than those of Mr. Parkyns."— jETre. Post. 

"Mr. Mansfield Parkyns is no tourist, but a genuine traveller. In acqu.aintance 
with Eastern languages and manners he is a Buckhardt; his liking for Natural History 
and assiduity as a collector, remiiuls us of Waterton ; while in liis passion for the 
chase, and occasional introduction of elephants, giraffes, and lions, he bears an obvious 
likeness to Campbell or Gordon Cm\xm\v\^."'—DiMin Magazine. 

"Eemarkably entertaining and interesting volumes, brimfull of adventures and 
life. "We have read them with perfect gusto, and cordially join "Blackwood's recom- 
mendation."— J5ostora Atlas. 

"A story of three years in Abyssinian life, by one so keen in obsf^rvation and fond 
of adventure as Mr. Parkyns could not but promise a great attraction ; and no one 
who opens this book will ky it down in disappointment, lie sketches the incidents 
of liis travels with great distinctness and vividness and portrays character, wherever 
he meets it, capitally."— A^. Y. Courier. 

" The author appears to have become thoroughly naturalized among the singular 
people with whom it was his lot to dwell, and tells the story of his adventures with a 
liveliness and freedom from reserve that are extremely captivating." — Jour, of Com. 

"Dullness certainly has no share in Mr. Parkyns' composition— it is a capital 
book."— U. S. Gazette. 

"This is no ordinary production."'— J?Z'rt?z?/ Argus. 

'' Attractive as a romance while they have the merit of usefulness." — Boston Cour. 

'• The most interesting book of travel issued from the press in many years."— P/ii^a. 
Courier. 

'■ In every respect the volumes are truly attractive." — American Courier. 

" We have been highly amused, and, we must say, instructed, in the perusal of Mi. 
Parkyn's adventures."— j5iyf«Zo Democrat. 

" "We do not hesitate to commend the book to our readers— it will amply repay 
their attention.''— /7(:a'?/o;-<i Times. 

"The work fulfils all the author promises."— (.^///-iViVn* Register. 

"To all who are in any kind of trouble from hot weather, bad temper, unpaid billt, 
4ud the like annoyances, we would recommend this book." — Pronidence Journal. 

"The style is pleasant and many of the incidents are piquant and startling."— i?oc^*» 
'■er American. 

" Theee are two delightful volumes of travel, ^?sh, racy and glowing with life."- 
<]ora. Advertiser 



1). APPLETON db Curs PUBLICATIONS. 



MRS. COWDEN CLARKE'S NEW ENGLISH NOVEL. 



The Iron Coufm, or Mutual Influence. 

BY MART COWDEN CLARKE, 

&ithor of " TiiK Girlhood of Suakspeare's Heroines ' the Complkis 
Concordance to Shakspeare," ctf. 

One handsomely printed volume, large 12mo. over 500 pages. Price S1.25 - )loth 

" Mrs. Clarke lias given us one of the most delightful novels we have read for many 
a day, and one which is destined, we doubt not, to be much longer lived than the msjority 
of books of its class. Its chief beauties are a certain freshness in the stjie in which the in 
ddents are presented to us — a healthful tone pervading it — a completeness in most of th/3 
characters— and a truthful power in the descriptions." — London Times. 

" "We have found the volume deeply interesting — its characters are well drawn, whih 
its tone and sentiments are well calculated to exert a purifying and ennobling iniluenc« 
upon all who read it." — Savannah RepiCblican. 

" The scene of the book is village life amongst the upper class, with village episodes, 
which seem to have been sketched from the life — there is a primitive simplicity and gre^t 
ness of heart about some of the characters which keep up the sympathy and interest to 
the end." — London Globe. 

" The reader cannot fail of being both charmed and ii;structed by the book, and ')« 
'loping that a pen so able will not lie i^a.^^—Pennsylvanian. 

" We fearlessly recommend it as a work of more than ordinary merit." — BingTiampUm 
Daily Republic. 

"The great moral lesson indicated by the title-page of this book runs, as a golden thread, 
through every part of it, while the reader is constantly kept in contact with the workinss 
of an inventive and brilliant vamiS..'''— Albany A/'i/us. 

" We have read this fascinating story with a good deal of interest. Human nature '.8 
well and faithfully portrayed, and we see the counterpart of our story in character and 
disposition, in every village and district. The book cannot fail of popular reception,"— 
Albany and Rochester Courier. 

" A work of deep and powerful influence." — Herald. 

" Mrs. Cowden Clarke, with the delicacy and artistic taste of refined womanhood, fcas n 
I'lis work shown great versatility of talent." 

"The story is too daeply interesting to allow the reader to lay it down till he has read 
*l to tbe end." 

"The work is skilful in plan, graphic in style, diversified in incident and true to nature. 

'■The tale is charmingly imagined. The incidents never exceed probability but ?ec in 
perfectly natural. In the style there is much quaintness, in the sentiment much tendcrnetft.' 

"It is a spirited, charming story, full of adventure^ friendship and love, with characters 
a4«*'.ly drawn and carefully discriminated. The clear style and spirit with wliich the story 
ia presented and the characters developed, will attract a large constituency to the perusal." 

" Mrs. Cowden Clarke's story has one of the highest qualities of fiction— it is no flickering 
ibadow, but seems of real growth. It is full of lively truth, and shows nice perceptioa ot 
the early elements of character with which we become acquainted in its wholeness, and in 
the ripeness of years. The incident is well woven : the color is blood-warm ; and thero i* 
bho presence of a sweet grace and gentle power " 



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